Dikeledi
Bonolo Kavula
About the SessionA strong contemporary thread runs throughout the sale, rooted in long-standing tradition. Selective historic textiles offer a vital counterpoint and illuminate the deep sources that continue to inspire contemporary makers.
About this Item
Provenance
SMAC Gallery, Cape Town.
Private Collection.
Notes
Bonolo Kavula, born in 1992 in Kimberley, is an artist whose work straddles painting, printmaking, drawing, relief wood carving, and installation. Drawing from geometric shapes like circles and lines, Kavula’s practice revisits 1960s post-minimalism and serial art while incorporating traditional shweshwe cloth to evoke cultural and ancestral narratives. Her process is defined by repetitive actions, creating optical abstractions through punctured fabric to reveal new meanings in the material.
Kavula received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Cape Town’s Michaelis School of Fine Art in 2014, receiving the Katrine Harries Print Cabinet Award the same year. She was also a founding member of the artist collective iQhiya. Kavula’s works are held in major collections like the Perez Art Museum in Miami, Florida, and the Iziko South African National Gallery. In 2022, she won the Norval Foundation Sovereign African Art Prize.
Dikeledi is the Sotho word for "tears" which while signifying sorrow and grief can also reflect the resilience and hope after trials.
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