Bekezela Mabena

Biography

Bekezela Mabena is a South African-based visual artist, born in 1996. He lived in Zimbabwe for a number of years and returned to South Africa in 2008. He studied at the Jiyana Secondary School in Tembisa where he matriculated and received the Matric 2017 Visual Art Award. He completed his Third Year of study at Artist Proof Studio in 2020 and is currently enrolled in the Senior Graduate Programme and is doing an internship in the Gallery. 

Artist Statement

I'm tired too ey...

I wear my smile just like you, days come and go but it's different and I paint when I feel like no one is listening.

The ‘Shared Identity’ series I is a body of work that emerged during the first lockdown in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. During that time, people came together and shared experiences, stories and moments. Households shared meals and established new connections with my recent work"I look at maps, I look at topographical maps of Zimbabwe where I was born and fuse it with the south African map where I currently live. Identity and travel, moving from one place to another and the change that comes with it are becoming important aspects in my work

My works references the numbers in my identity document. I still do not have my identity document, it’s been ‘in process’ for years. I have come across hundreds of people with the same issue as me – people with no identities, and no numbers. This has motivated me to create work that deals with identity and a sense of belonging.