Thembinkosi Hlatshwayo

Thembinkosi Hlatshwayo is an emerging photographer whose photographic practice focuses on themes of collective trauma and generational memory in South Africa. Hlatshwayo grew up above his parents' tavern, where he experienced a series of traumatic events during his childhood. This tavern became his makeshift studio where he set up his practice to explore first-hand and generational experiences of trauma. Abstract and partly participatory, Hlatshwayo's photographic practice relies on people's physical engagement with the photograph. After taking a photograph, Hlatshwayo prints it and then leaves it in private or public spaces for people to leave their mark. ...

Based in a 360 sqm gallery in Woodstock, Cape Town, blank was founded by Jonathan Garnham as a project space in 2005 and transitioned into a commercial gallery during 2012. The gallery represents emerging and increasingly established artists from the region in a critically engaged programme that emphasises contemporaneity, with a focus on concept and abstraction in the African context. With an exhibition programme that has a reputation for shaping the discourse around contemporary art in South(ern) Africa, and participation in prominent local and international art fairs, we seek to place our artists' work in a wide range of private and institutional collections. In addition, blank continues to promote the visual arts in our community through ongoing projects that support the sector. ...