SETLAMORAGO MASHILO

(b. 1987 Johannesburg, South Africa)

‘I unpack my own spiritual and psychological connections with these established systems of thought or ideologies and how they still condition our contemporary lives – the very same systems created by previous generations to secure our being and give them what we/they seek from life.’

Setlamorago Mashilo is compelled by a sense of social conscience. He incorporates proverbs and idioms in his mother tongue (Sepedi) into his multidisciplinary art practice, to translate the community’s oral histories into artistic interventions and installations.

Continuing the thread from his earlier works, Mashilo’s work centres around the consequences of dwelling, building and thinking, by articulating and interrogating narratives that resonate individually and collectively about our sense of loss, nostalgia and inherited memories. His work becomes a form of conversation about our society's values: how they are deeply encoded in our language and in objects and, ultimately, how that shapes the communities of which we are a part.

Mashilo's first solo exhibition was in the Netherlands and he has also exhibited in South Africa, the UK, Germany and China. Awards in South Africa include the Facebook Fan's Choice at the 2013 PPC Young Concrete Sculptor Awards, as well as the inaugural Turbine Art Fair and Sylt Emerging Artist award in 2014.

‘The thorny issue come discourse concerning land in South Africa has always been a contentious dialogue to engage with. There are seemingly new complexities that emerge with the interrogation of this subject as there is a collective understanding that the land was stolen from the indigenous peoples who occupied it. This view still persists in South Africa’s contemporary society to the extent where it expands to politics and economics. The year 2013 marked the 100th year anniversary of the Native Land Act. Thus beckons the questions: what permutations exist due to this happening? What types of connection are there between the land and its "'custodians'"?

The series Mabu a u tswitswe is engrossed in exploring these potent questions and analysing the multi-faceted narratives that inform our historical and contemporary lives. The title is in fact a Sepedi idiom which literally means ‘the land has been stolen’. I critique various narratives that resonate collectively with the greater public such as issues of migration, labour, dispossession, alienation, angst etc. Inversely, I also interrogate my own spiritual/ psychological alienation and angst towards the lands which I occupy.’

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2022

Spring, group show, Everard Read, Franschhoek, South Africa

Negotiating the Crossroads, solo, Everard Read, Franschhoek, South Africa

Investec Cape Town Art Fair, with Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

Land Grabber’s Shrine, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

2021  

Against the Grain, solo, Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa

Oasis, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

Spring Show, Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa 

2020 

Visions of the Interior, solo, Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa 

Journeys of the Mind, Everard Read, Franschhoek, South Africa

Us, Everard Read, South Africa & UK

Life & Land, mmARTHouse, Johannesburg, South Africa

2018

FNB Joburg Art Fair, with Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa 

The Land Will Decide, solo exhibition at Everard Read Gallery

2017

FNB Joburg Art Fair, with Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa 

2016

Amandla! Reform, Debate, Redress, Oliewenhuis Art Museum

Bodulo, Rotterdam International Art Fair

Performing Wo/Man, North-West University Gallery

Tokyo International Art Fair

Installation Art Fair, New York

African Equations, Lizamore & Associates

2015

New Voices, Lizamore & Associates

When You Come Back, Art on Paper Miami

FETISH, Albany Museum

The Spiritual in the Material”, Lizamore & Associates

Capital Present, Fried Contemporary

Emerging Artists, Shanghai Art Fair

Landlords & Trespassers, Turbine Art Fair

2014

Contemporary Totem Poles (Cool Capital Biennale)

Fresh Produce, Turbine Art Fair

2013

PPC Young Sculptor Awards, Pretoria Artist Association

SELECTED AWARDS/RESIDENCIES

2013 PPC Young Concrete Sculptor Award (Fans Choice Award)

2014 Turbine Art Fair & Sylt Emerging Artist Award

2015 Sylt Residency

2016 Global Nomadic Art Project

SELECTED PUBLIC COMMISSIONS/COLLECTIONS

Modern Art Projects, South Africa

Tambo Foundation, South Africa