Ubusukunemini

PhotoSaintGermain

Paris, France

2024

Tshepiso Mazibuko

Sibusiso Bheka

On the occasion of the 30^thanniversary of democracy in South Africa, Rubis Mécénat presents the work of two emerging South African photographers from the Of Soul and Joy project, a photography-centred social and artistic mentoring programme created by Rubis Mécénat in the township of Thokoza in Johannesburg.

Ubusukunemini (Day and Night) is an invitation from Tshepiso Mazibuko to Sibusiso Bheka to weave together a vision of Thokoza today. Both were born and raised in this township where, overnight, they were “born free” —born after 1994 at the end of apartheid. Indeed, born free, but still stuck within the constraining urban planning of the past.

The exhibition interweaves two sensibilities that examine the same place: the township. The photographers summon the viewer day and night, in burning colours or in timeless black and white. On all sides, this feeling of immobility, structurally imposed by the place itself, is expressed. Swept from dawn by dazzling spotlights, the day vibrates with incessant noise or while the night is muffled in silence. The experience is an immersion into the heart of the community of Thokoza, hemmed in by the societal structures of its past: a lingering trace of South African history.

Curated by Valérie Fougeirol

Tshepiso Mazibuko

Born in 1995 in Thokoza, South Africa, where she currently lives and works, Tshepiso Mazibuko understands the photographic medium to be a tool for observing political, societal, historical and even topographic sectors.

She discovered photography in 2012 with Of Soul and Joy and completed her photography studies in 2016 at the Market Photo Workshop in Johannesburg. Her work has been exhibited at the Ithuba Arts Gallery and the Iziko South African National Gallery (Johannesburg, South Africa), the Turbine Art Fair, the Art Africa Fair (Cape Town), the Addis Foto Fest (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), LagosPhoto as well as the Ghent International Photo Festival (Belgium). She was awarded the 2017 Tierney scholarship and received the 2018 Prince Claus Award. She is a founding member of Umhlabathi, a collective of South African photographers. Her work was exhibited at the Rencontres d’Arles as part of the 2024 Discovery Award Louis Roederer Foundation, for which she received the Public Prize as well as the Prix de la Photo Madame Figaro.

Sibusiso Bheka

Born in 1997 in Thokoza, South Africa, Sibusiso discovered photography in 2012 with Of Soul and Joy and continued his studies at the Vaal University of Technology.

His work has been displayed at numerous exhibitions and fairs in South Africa and internationally: Addis Foto Fest (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), Ghent International Photo Festival (Belgium) and Rencontres de Bamako (Mali), amongst others. He was shortlisted for the Magnum Foundation Fellowship for Photography and Social Justice in 2018. In 2019, he was nominated for the Joop Swart Masterclass and the CAP Prize. More recently, in 2023, he presented his work at the AKAA-Art & Design fair in Paris. In 2023, he was in residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris with the Institut Français. Sibusiso Bheka is represented by Afronova Gallery.