NKATA: Dots of Thoughts
EP12: Memory, Performance, Healing and Celebration in the Photographic works of Lebohang Kganye.
In the 12th Episode of Dots of Thoughts, Emeka Okereke reflects on the photographic work of Lebohang Kganye. Ke Lefa Laka: Her-story, was realised in 2013. It explores the relationship between Lebohang Kganye and her mother, who passed on three years earlier. She employs the techniques of double exposure and superimposition to “re-enter” the life of her mother and to seek out a space of communality between the living and the dead, between the past and the present wherein “she is me, I am her and there remains in this commonality so much difference, and so much distance in space and time”.
In reflecting on this body of work, Emeka Okereke writes on Instagram:
“I find this series enigmatically powerful. I appreciate the artist’s uncomplicated use of the photographic medium in the bridging of the past and present without closing off the space lost to imperceptible, ungraspable emotions – all of which reinforces the intimacy we can only sense but not necessarily understand.
I find myself dwelling on the ambiguous duality captured in this work – reminiscent of the spiritual concept of the holy trinity, but in this case, between a daughter and mother.
Yet, I am reminded of the concept of duality, of dependability, of invisibility in the worldview of the Igbo people: where one thing stands, something else stands beside it.”
This statement became the prompt to reach out to Lebohang and expound on these strands of thoughts, which is this podcast episode.
Listen to Lebohang Kganye as she takes us through some of the thought processes behind the work. In the conversation, she asserts:
More than anything, the work also provides a space for therapy and for healing.
As much as it is about loss, it is also about celebration.
In that navigation of guilt [of loss] is also a celebration of a person.
Listen to the full episode on nkatapodcast.com.
Also available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Deezer, Google Podcast and over ten other podcast platforms.
Follow the podcast on these platforms to get notified when new episodes go live.
Use the time stamps to navigate to parts of the podcast. Also, listen to the podcast alongside Lebohang Kganye's website: https://www.lebohangkganye.co.za/
Want to join a growing community of supporters and reviewers of the project? Checkout out our Patreon page.
Host: Emeka Okereke (Barcelona)
Guest: Lebohang Kganye (Johannesburg)
Production: E.O Multimedia LTD.
Art works: Lebohang Kganye
Music/Composer: Kupesonics/Kupeski
Supported by Stiftung Kunstfonds Germany
Created during the Research Residency Program at The Over | Pol & Grace Barcelona
Thank you for listening. Follow Nkata Podcast Station on Instagram @nkatapodcast and Twitter.
See the website for extensive materials: nkatapodcast.com
In the 12th Episode of Dots of Thoughts, Emeka Okereke reflects on the photographic work of Lebohang Kganye. Ke Lefa Laka: Her-story, was realised in 2013. It explores the relationship between Lebohang Kganye and her mother, who passed on three years earlier. She employs the techniques of double exposure and superimposition to “re-enter” the life of her mother and to seek out a space of communality between the living and the dead, between the past and the present wherein “she is me, I am her and there remains in this commonality so much difference, and so much distance in space and time”.
In reflecting on this body of work, Emeka Okereke writes on Instagram:
“I find this series enigmatically powerful. I appreciate the artist’s uncomplicated use of the photographic medium in the bridging of the past and present without closing off the space lost to imperceptible, ungraspable emotions – all of which reinforces the intimacy we can only sense but not necessarily understand.
I find myself dwelling on the ambiguous duality captured in this work – reminiscent of the spiritual concept of the holy trinity, but in this case, between a daughter and mother.
Yet, I am reminded of the concept of duality, of dependability, of invisibility in the worldview of the Igbo people: where one thing stands, something else stands beside it.”
This statement became the prompt to reach out to Lebohang and expound on these strands of thoughts, which is this podcast episode.
Listen to Lebohang Kganye as she takes us through some of the thought processes behind the work. In the conversation, she asserts:
More than anything, the work also provides a space for therapy and for healing.
As much as it is about loss, it is also about celebration.
In that navigation of guilt [of loss] is also a celebration of a person.
Listen to the full episode on nkatapodcast.com.
Also available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Deezer, Google Podcast and over ten other podcast platforms.
Follow the podcast on these platforms to get notified when new episodes go live.
Use the time stamps to navigate to parts of the podcast. Also, listen to the podcast alongside Lebohang Kganye's website: https://www.lebohangkganye.co.za/
Want to join a growing community of supporters and reviewers of the project? Checkout out our Patreon page.
Host: Emeka Okereke (Barcelona)
Guest: Lebohang Kganye (Johannesburg)
Production: E.O Multimedia LTD.
Art works: Lebohang Kganye
Music/Composer: Kupesonics/Kupeski
Supported by Stiftung Kunstfonds Germany
Created during the Research Residency Program at The Over | Pol & Grace Barcelona
Thank you for listening. Follow Nkata Podcast Station on Instagram @nkatapodcast and Twitter.
See the website for extensive materials: nkatapodcast.com