20 – Lebohang Kganye

South-African artist Lebohang Kganye, Laureate of the Grand Prix Images Vevey 2021/2022 for her project Staging Memories, places cut-out characters amid improvised settings, somewhat like how pop-up books unfold and close again. Blending photography, theatre and literature, her artwork presents free interpretations of the novella Ta O’Reva by Malawian writer Muthi Nhlema. This tale relates Nelson Mandela’s return to a post-apocalyptic South Africa.

Lebohang Kganye enters the very heart of these sketches and revisits the past, marked by apartheid. Staging Memories presents the impact of the bigger picture on the small personal family one and suggests contemplation of the way we construct and describe our memories.