ART(ist) • Of Soul and Joy

ART(ist) #4

Tshepiso Mazibuko

Of Soul and Joy is a lasting social and artistic initiative undertaken in 2012 by Rubis Mécénat cultural fund and Easigas (Rubis Group’s South African subsidiary) in Thokoza, a township in the southeast of Johannesburg in South Africa in the East Rand.

Its goal is to develop artistic skills in the field of photography amongst the township’s vulnerable youth by providing an understanding of photography as a means of expression, in order to open up new personal and professional horizons. The visual platform and the skills program are brought together in workshops led by renowed photographers. It also fosters encounters with art professionals and the opportunity to participate in art related events both in South Africa and abroad. Each year the most promising students are awarded a scholarship to pursue their studies in photography in a university of their choice, such as the Market Photo Workshop in Johannesburg.

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.