The Raw Lifestyle of Hostel Dwellers
Mpumelelo Buthelezi
About the SessionHair Matters: A Selection of Works from the Georgina Jaffee Collection is a tightly focused, thematic auction that initiates a critical dialogue on the profound significance of hair in contemporary artistic practice. Featuring a cohort of accomplished contemporary artists, primarily those working from the African continent or within the global African diaspora, this selection of works is guided by a singular conceptual mandate: every work turns to hair as a powerful nexus, serving as medium, metaphor, or focal point of exploration.
Hair Matters illuminates the diverse interpretations and artistic vocabularies through which hair shapes identity, memory, and meaning across cultures, nations, and histories. Featuring artists such as Léonce Raphaël Agbodjélou (Benin), Ifeoma U. Anyaeji (Nigeria), Sethembile Msezane (South Africa), and Hank Willis Thomas (United States), the auction examines the aesthetics, politics, and sociology of hair, with particular emphasis on African perspectives and the connective threads that link the continent and its global diasporas.
Curatorial Voices: Natasha Becker, Jared Leite, Vida Madighi-Oghu and Sihle Motsa.
About this Item
signed, dated, numbered 2/10 and inscribed with the title and 'Nance Field (sic) Soweto' in ink in the margin; accompanied by a certificate of authenticity inscribed with the artist's name, the date, title and medium adhered to the reverse
Notes
Selected by Curatorial Voice: Jared Leite.
The present lot depicts Nancefield Hostel in Klipspruit, Soweto, a site once infamous for the violent confrontations that occurred between hostel residents and surrounding communities. Constructed in the early 1950s as one of the apartheid government’s labour dormitories for migrant workers, the complex today accommodates many young men and women born after the advent of democracy in 1994.1
Now encircled by informal settlements, Nancefield Hostel has undergone a profound transformation in its social fabric, evolving into a densely populated yet dynamic residential community. Mpumelelo Buthelezi’s The Raw Lifestyle of Hostel Dwellers series centres on the individuals who inhabit this environment, offering a nuanced portrayal of their daily lives and the ways in which post-apartheid conditions continue to shape urban existence.2
The present lot features Mhlubulo, the proprietor of a barbershop within the hostel, pictured with one of his customers. His establishment, which offers a range of haircuts and operates from early morning until late at night, reflects the informal economies that sustain life within the complex. Through his documentary approach, Buthelezi reveals how the hostel has evolved from a transient labour compound into a multi-generational community characterised by family life, entrepreneurship and social cohesion.3
Buthelezi’s work occupies an important place within contemporary South African visual culture. His photographs illuminate spaces that exist between the conventional divides of township and inner city, formal and informal, while drawing attention to the enduring legacies of historical injustice and structural inequality. At the same time, they affirm the resilience, adaptability and creative agency of those who inhabit these marginalised yet vital urban environments.
1. Unknown author (2018) Daor Contemporary, Mpumelelo Buthelezi: The Raw Lifestyle, online, accessed 13 November 2025.
2. Ibid.
3. Mpumelelo Buthelezi (2018) City Press, The Raw Lifestyle of Hostel Dwellers, online, accessed 13 November 2025.
Exhibited
Daor Contemporary, Cape Town, Mpumelelo Buthelezi: The Raw Lifestyle, 7 September to 3 October 2023, another example from the edition exhibited.
Literature
Mpumelelo Buthelezi (2018) City Press, The Raw Lifestyle of Hostel Dwellers, online, accessed 5 November 2025, another example from the edition illustrated in colour.
Provenance
The Georgina Jaffee Hair Matters Collection.
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