Sithabile Mlotshwa

Artworks of Sithabile Mlotshwa from the project "Footsteps of Change" - an installation made out of 60 pieces.

Sunday, 9 September 2012

My new work at the 1st Casablanca Biennale, with the technical assistance of Koos Schaart











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Current Projects

I am very pleased to have finished IFAA 2012 in Belgium which was a great success. I am now working on my upcoming solo exhibition - retrospective of my work since I left Zimbabwe to date and preparing for the IFAA 2013 - 2015 projects. I however now devide this work with my tasks as Board of Directors at the WHAA Foundation. An amazing organization whose purpose is to strengthen diversity. If you want to stay up to date with one of my major activities please check out IFAA 2012 at www.ifaa-platform.org. And please sign up at our IFAA contact page to stay up to date with the upcoming projects. Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog. I look forward to meeting you at one of my events....S'tha!















Footsteps of Change

Footsteps of Change

Footsteps of Change

Footsteps of Change

Footsteps of Change

Footsteps of Change

Footsteps of Change

Footsteps of Change

Footsteps of Change paintings

Footsteps of Change paintings
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Footsteps of Change

Footsteps of Change

Art as a catalyst for change, innovation and human advancement

  • Re Shaping the Future, interview Sithabile Mlotshwa
  • Sithabile speaks at Tedx women Amsterdam
  • Video of Sithabile Mlotshwa at Tedx women Amsterdam
  • Inspirational women and men at Tedx women Amsterdam

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    Footsteps of Change

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    The ups and downs of being a Zimbabwean artist in the diaspora

    An interview with S’thabile Mlotshwa by Barbara Murray

    3,062 words

    A few weeks ago, it was reported that Zimbabwean artist S’thabile Mlotshwa met and had lunch with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh at the royal official opening of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow where one of her artworks is now part of the permanent collection alongside artworks by Rembrandt, Picasso and other old masters. This energetic and extrovert young woman tells us what it is all about.

    Q: What is the background to having your work alongside Picasso and others in Glasgow?

    S’thabile: The artwork displayed at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum was commissioned for the Cultural Survival Gallery. The curator asked me to make an installation or sculpture to represent water-related issues in the southern and eastern part of Africa. The title of the work is “Bringing Water to the African People” and it is made of ostrich eggshell, porcupine quills, hemp and charcoal. The egg vessel consists of three important elements: the rope represents continuous hope, the broken pieces of eggshell around the outer part of the vessel stand for the different communities of Africa who share the same need for water, and the lines on the vessel represent the connection the indigenous peoples have to water.

    Q: How did you feel seeing your work displayed near the “old masters”?

    S’thabile: When I began working on the commission, I had no idea about the works displayed in Kelvingrove, nor what Kelvingrove was. To me it was just a commissioned work, which I would do and when it was done that would be it. I began realising the seriousness of the project when I had to deliver the completed artwork and I had to work with a conservator, who in turn had to take over the care of my artwork until the time came for me to install it at the museum. I suddenly found myself in this grand, beautiful building, which at the time was still closed for refurbishment. When I saw the space, the art works, I was in disbelief. It had always been my dream to show my work in the same building where the old masters had hung. But to be able to display my work a few rooms from not only one of the old masters but a group of many of them is a great honour. Not only that but also having my work as part of the permanent collection of the second-most-visited museum outside London... wow! Not to mention having to meet and dine with the Queen… something I never imagined.

    Q: Is it important to see your work alongside “great artists”?

    S’thabile: Yes, I find it very important, especially because they are the greatest masters in Europe, who have left a great mark of their work and existence. Since living in the Netherlands, I never imagined it possible to have my work as part of a permanent collection of a museum with artworks by Rembrandt, but now my work is displayed on the same floor with him and others. I find it a great achievement. I am no longer in some corner only for the “African feeling” or shown in an exhibition of African art. It brings me great pride that I, Sithabile Mlotshwa Mgidi Makhawulane Ngwalazindeni Ngwalongwalo Mazibuko Phakathi, born in Bulawayo Zimbabwe, and having done my art education at Mzilikazi Art Centre, am now displayed in a grand museum alongside "great artists".

    Q: Mzilikazi Art Centre is a long way from Rembrandt. What kind of art education did you have?

    S’thabile: The art education I had was Western based, without much emphasis on Western art history. It was more about the technique, which I also use, but which does not have anything to do with my expression as an individual. Having majored as a fine artist, I came out not knowing what I would do next. Knowing that my father was against me becoming an artist in the first place, made it even more difficult to find my way. I then decided to further my education by taking up a course in applied fashion and design. Within a year I knew I was in the wrong place. With the help of my former lecturer, Tomy Ndebele, I got a studio space where my journey began as a practising artist.

    Q: Tomy must have been very important to you. Who else has influenced you? Who are your favourite artists, Zimbabwean and others?

    S’thabile: My international favourite artists are Picasso, Goya, Frida Kahlo, Pollock and Gaudi with his amazing buildings. My favourite artists from back home are Adam Madebe, Joseph Muzondo, Zephania Tshuma and Rashid Jogee. However none of these artists have influenced my work. Travelling in West Europe gave me the chance to know more about artists from this part of the world. My work, on the other hand, has been, or maybe still is, a process that needs defining. All I can say is that my work is a representation of my feelings and thoughts, ever changing, depending on what I am feeling and where I am. My influences come from my past and present experiences. Their impact in my work depends on how much those experiences affect me positively or negatively. I must add that a sense of loss, identity, pain and a great desire to make a difference lately seem to be what drives my creative process, in comparison to the past where suppression, frustration, anger and pain were my drive.

    Q: What is the impact of your art education, the type of introduction to art you had, or lack of it, on your approach to making art?

    S’thabile: The impact of my art education on my approach to making art has not been positive. What I mean is, the way I express myself in my art is related to the way I had my art education. This has made it difficult for my work to be well received in Europe in the sense that the people who have viewed my work and have loved or been impressed by it, when they heard that I was from Africa it disappointed them as my work, to them, was “not African”, what ever that means. It is something I have come across many times when exhibiting or showing people my work. Which, in turn, led me to start questioning why my work was not viewed as original but as a copy of European art?! My answer came when a Dutch fellow artist made a comment about my work. What this artist said was that she noticed that many African artists copy the European way of art-making when creating their works, and that she had noticed that I was now finding my own way which was more African. I did not really know how to react, but I was happy that at least she was honest enough to say her true thoughts about how she viewed or related to the artworks created by artists from the African continent. Many people I have met who collect art from Africa, and or are interested in what they call African art, believe that “African” artists only create works with blood, saliva, gum Arabic and grass. I therefore, through my work, represent a continent and a visual culture with supposedly no diversity!

    Q: How has leaving Zimbabwe influenced your life, work and approach to art-making?

    S’thabile: I left Zimbabwe for personal reasons. Moving to Europe drastically changed me. In other words, it killed me. I was dead for at least 2-and-a-half years. Happy but very unhappy, in love but very lonely and alone. At home, but far from home. The out-going, outspoken, energetic, loud-laughing, free-spirited person I used to be was gone. Replaced by someone I did not recognise. Someone who no longer spoke, was sad, trapped, lived in the shadows, and was dead. When you look at my work from that period, you can see someone completely lost, purposeless and directionless. It took a while but my fire came back, and when I began to feel life in me again, I started putting together an exhibition called Living in the Diaspora. It marked my arrival, rebirth and reconnecting with my past and the world. During my ‘death’ phase, I cut off most contact with all my friends, colleagues and family. I could not reach myself and was unreachable. The exhibition was my opening window to let in the world I once knew and had shut down. I was now strong enough to let them see where I had been and what had happened to me. The exhibition itself shocked a lot of my friends and family. Some found the works depressing. Some said the work was not typical of me, that my previous works were happy and celebrating life. They could not make the connection to what was now on display. Most of them having come from far away had difficulty understanding the exhibition I had said was the symbol of my rebirth – they found it depressing. Nonetheless it was rebirth and the old me was reborn... but better, stronger and wiser.

    Q: What differences are there in showing your work in Europe compared to showing in Zimbabwe?

    S’thabile: The differences are huge. Showing my work in Europe has been for me the worst nightmare. I can say that it has been the biggest nail and hand that kept me dead since my arrival here. I am somehow still perplexed by why it was possible and easier for me to be invited to exhibit internationally and participate in residency programmes in Europe when I was living in Zimbabwe and yet impossible to show my work as a Zimbabwean living in Europe. The worst nightmare of showing my work in Europe is and has been the representation. My experience is that it has been about showing the “African” artist, or selling the exotic “African” feeling, not really looking at the artwork or why it is made or what the artist is trying to put across. I have many times been in situations where someone looks at my work and then says "Oh that looks like you have been influenced by so-and-so”, meaning an artist from Europe. This, in turn, becoming the way in which they view my work, and which to them means that it is not an “original” artwork but a “copy” from the reference familiar to them.

    Showing in Zimbabwe was different in the sense that it was about my work and the message in it and not about my colour or where I came from. This I find important as it gives an artist a platform to air their views, allows their voice to be heard and gives a sense of belonging and acceptance, which in turn leads to understanding, appreciating and giving value to the artwork. Not only that but it also helps the artists to keep growing without feeling they have to prostitute themselves in order to display their work or save their artistic practice.

    Q: What is the main subject matter of your recent artwork?

    S’thabile: The main subject matter of my recent work, “Footsteps of Change”, is where I examine or look back at Zimbabwe in the past and Zimbabwe today, at my identity, history and cultural heritage. I am retracing the steps of history and cultural heritage with the hope to understand what role this has had in shaping who I am, what my country is, my identity, and that of fellow Zimbabweans at home and living in the diaspora. “Footsteps of Change” is a large installation, which presents 12 heads, each with a name and each representing historical changes in Zimbabwe from 1900 to the present and into the future. The year 1900 is chosen because it is the year my late grandmother was born. Also part of the installation is a coffin containing a pregnant corpse covered with a Zimbabwean flag. It represents the death and birth of hope.

    On one painted panel, words appear: “We are one, until when??!! What happens to one can happen to one!! Can you forgive, heal? The wounds of another-healing, forgiving”, then again and again “What happens to one, can happen to one”.

    And there is a fragile structure held together by a net… it is a womb. It is the desperate, uncertain and frail situation in back home.

    Q: How has the subject changed over the years?

    S’thabile: When I first moved to Europe, the subject matter was more about finding myself, being lost in a country unfamiliar to anything from my past. When I look back now, I see that I spent many years in the dark, a darkness of not belonging, not fitting and being different. And this occupied my mind for a very long time and is very much reflected in my previous works.

    Q: What are your current concerns and interests?

    S’thabile: My concerns at present are about my country. I am constantly wondering what is really happening there, at the same time not really knowing what it would be like to go back. All I hear from my family is that Zimbabwe has become Chinese, how rapidly things are changing and how they prefer the old Egypt to the new Egypt. This constant hearing of the uncertainty of things, the value of products going from 5 dollars to millions of dollars and now to thousands of dollars does not settle in. I have been away from home for 6 years. When I left Zimbabwe, things were beautiful, hopeful, or maybe it was my longing. But what I hear now I cannot comprehend. I have a great longing to return, but so much has happened I have lost so much that I do not know where I would begin if I were to return. What I mean by losing so much is that I lost a lot of my relatives to Aids, two brothers last year and in the past two years a total of 25 people. For a while I dreaded picking up the phone with the fear that I would be told that someone else had died. It went to an extent whereby at some point my family conversations started and ended with who had died, who they thought was next and how long they had. It has now become a part of my life to get mail that two or three people have died or complete families are gone, so much that there is no one to bury the remaining sick. This is one of my main concerns... when this catastrophe will end?

    My other concern is about my being in the diaspora, the difficulties I have encountered with living in this part of the world, my identity, my children's identity and future. How it will be when I go back? I wonder whether I will be enriched spiritually and culturally, or poor, much poorer? I am occupied by the importance of not losing my roots, and preserving my culture, while at the same time embracing another culture. What interests me is how other diasporans are coping. When I look at preserving my culture, I go back to my history, to who I am and I find myself somehow filled with a sense of sadness as I am confronted by the fact that I am a product of colonisation, with a loss of historical and cultural identity.

    I recall my first visit to Europe, which was in 1996 during my residency at the Konstepidemin in Sweden, which for me was the biggest culture shock ever. While in transit I had to go to the bathroom and there before me was a white woman cleaning the toilets. I will never forget how guilty I felt seeing her doing such work. In my mind, that work was meant for me, as that is what I was accustomed to. The first thought that came to my mind was asking if I could help her, then I hesitated with the shame of sounding ridiculous. I quickly left the bathroom and joined my companions in disbelief at what I had just witnessed. Later on I was served in a restaurant by another white person. The more this happened, the more I got confused. My Swedish experience was more of an unreal dream, which confirmed its unreality when I returned home to what I was more familiar… to serving, being fearful, unworthy etc.

    In short, coming to Europe and living here has been a lesson that we are all the same, equal human beings, with needs, feelings, history etc. This in turn has brought about the desire and great longing to rediscover who I really and truly am, what my rich stolen historical and cultural background is, and how I can somehow rewrite it and preserve it for my children, children’s children, and generations thereafter.

    Q: You have recently started an exciting venture called Thamgidi. What is it about?

    S’thabile: My reasons for setting up Thamgidi were because it was something I wanted to achieve, building a bridge between the Visual Artists Association in Bulawayo (VAAB) and an association in the Netherlands. Before I left Zimbabwe, I was the chairperson of the VAAB and we had international artists coming for exchange programmes, also from the Netherlands, and this gave me more drive to have this continuous exchange and dialogue. This however did not happen for many reasons, including my 2-and-a-half-year death period. What I came to realise was that it was very difficult for a foreign artist to get into the art scene, and all the challenges of finding a good gallery that could represent you or be forced to totally give up your artistic practice. It became my drive to create a refuge for artists. My hope for the Thamgidi Studio Foundation is to provide artists with opportunities to develop their artistic process and engage in dialogue in order to promote reciprocity of cultures. As a young foundation I think we are doing very well. This being our first year as a registered foundation, we have managed to give five grants, three of which are fully funded residency awards. The other two are prizes for stimulating artistic practice and were awarded to two artists in Zimbabwe. We are working towards many projects e.g. expanding our educational programme through our new project called Children First.

    Q: And finally, what role does art have in the world today and why do you think it is important?

    S’thabile: For me the role of art is breaking down barriers in order to bring about understanding and appreciation of what is happening in another culture. It is a universal language to overcome differences.

    1st Biennale of Casablanca

    Sithabile Mlotshwa at the 1st Biennale of Casablanca.

    S'thabile at the Glasgow Museums

    Africa

    Glasgow Museums has a collection of more than 4,200 African objects. These date from 1850 to 2005.

    This collection is the second largest of its kind in Scotland. It contains a broad range of cultural artefacts, such as ceremonial masks, carvings, weapons, domestic items, body ornaments, costume, textiles, furniture, musical instruments, ritual objects and wooden, stone and metal carvings. There are also a number of unique and rare items that are examples of their originating cultures. These include an ancestral screen from the Kalabari people of the Niger River Delta in Nigeria, an East African ceremonial cape of colobus monkey skins, a rare carved wooden funerary screen from the Kalabari Ijo in Nigeria, an Afro-Portuguese dagger from Sherbro Island in Sierra Leone, and a pair of rare Vend carved initiation figures from South Africa. The collection also boasts the only contemporary leaded brass sculpture from Benin in a UK museum, and the only UK work by the Zimbabwean artist Sithabile Mlotshwa.

    Short biography of Sithabile Mlotshwa

    Sithabile Mlotshwa is a visual artist from Zimbabwe; founding director of Thamgidi foundation (a private fund that gives grants to support cross – cultural artists exchange, artistic director of IFAA (an Interdisciplinary Festival and Artist in residency platform in Arnhem) a cultural producer and independent curator. Based in the eastern region of the Netherlands she works between Africa, Europe and Asia. A renowned artist actively involved in collecting and preserving contemporary art from Africa Sithabile also actively supports and promotes the visibility of contemporary artists from the African continent and the Diaspora through her organization - Thamgidi Foundation. Sithabile is a passionate campaigner for women’s rights who sees art as a catalyst for reciprocal cross-cultural exchange.

    Elected in 2008 to be President of the Jury at the Dak'art biennale in Senegal, Sithabile is also initiator of Art, Books & Wine an informal “face to face social network that promotes publications from curators, artists and institutions working in creative industries. Born in Bulawayo Zimbabwe Sithabile has travelled extensively through international exhibitions and artist in residency programs, among others the Konstepidemin in Gothenburg Sweden. In 2005 Sithabile was commissioned by the Kelvingrove museums and galleries to make an installation that is now displayed at the Gallery of world cultures alongside old masters - Picasso and Rembrandt. Because her work that was commissioned by the Kelvingrove museums and galleries, Sithabile was also invited to be at the presence of her Majesty the Queen of England for the official re-opening of Kelvingrove Museums and galleries, the second largest museum outside London.

    Sithabile has exhibited in many international exhibitions, won awards and was selected for the Asia-Europe network training program of Independent Autonomous art centers in Paris organized by Asia Europe Foundation, Trans Europe Halles & Artfactories.

    In October 2008 she got elected to be the Secretary General of Res Artis, an international network of world-wide residency art centers. She currently sits in the board of WHAA in Nijmegen and is the former chairperson of "VAAB" the visual arts association in Bulawayo Zimbabwe. Sithabile also founded the gift shop that finances the Thamgidi Foundation activities and is currently building the Africa Art Alliance network (an international network and data base for arts organizations and artists in Africa and the Diaspora). Her foundation was 2006 -2010 partner of the Dak'art biennale and also partner of the Conservatoire in Bamako Mali and Villa Gottfried in N'Gaparou (Senegal). Since 2006 her foundation has given 16 Thamgidi Foundation awards, 9 of which were given at the Dak'art biennale in 2006 - 2010, in September 2009 at the Biennale of Skopje in Macedonia and 2010 at the Spier Contemporary in Cape town South Africa. Her foundation has given supportive grants which included travel grants, supportive grants and documentation grants. She also runs an outreach program that supports and works with young people using the arts. Besides her growing collection of contemporary art, she has begun building a library and an artist archive of Contemporary Art and artists from Africa and the Diaspora.

    Sithabile has works in the permanent collection of the National gallery of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo with most of her works collected world-wide. She has illustrated books and participated in the restoration of the Cyrene Mission (restoration of a church which is on UNESCO world heritage list) Sithabile was also 2009 advisory board member of the Gelders Balkon, a project initiated by the museum of Modern Art in Arnhem.
    Below are some of the organizations that have been supported by Thamgidi Foundation

    http://www.ccalagos.org/

    http://www.cultureelplatformlingewaard.nl/



    CURRICULUM VITAE OF SITHABILE MLOTSHWA

    DATE OF BIRTH - 10 August 1975

    ART TRAINING - Majored in Fine Arts, at Mzilikazi Art Centre 1991-93

    FURTHER TRAINING - Diploma, Applied Fashion & Design, “Speciss College”

    2007-08 - CLP Cultural Leadership Training Program, Manchester UK

    2007- One week intensive Arts management training for Independent Autonomous Art centers, by Asia-Europe Foundation, Trans Europe Halles and Artfactories, Paris.

    JOB TITLE
    Director (Thamgidi Foundation)
    Artistic director IFAA
    Visual Artist, Cultural producer and independent curator

    PROFESSIONAL BODIES
    Member of Arterial Network
    Member of Black Arts Alliance UK
    Member of Res Artis
    Member of Enyan UK
    Alumni of PLAYERS, Black- led organization network
    Founder of IFAA Network
    Initiator IFAA Festival and art platform
    Founder Art Books and Wine
    Alumni of Asia-Europe Network
    Friend of the National Gallery in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
    2009 Advisory board member of the Gelders Balkon of the Museum of Modern Art in Arnhem
    Former Secretary General of Res Artis
    Former chairperson of VAAB

    WORK EXPERIENCE - 2003-10
    Building up - running a non for profit self financed foundation and residency program, fundraising, teaching, project development, brilliant networker, mentoring and working as a independent curator. I am founding director of Thamgidi Studio Foundation (a private fund that gives grants to support cross –cultural artists exchange), artistic director of IFAA (an interdisciplinary festival and artists in residency platform in Arnhem). I initiated Art, Books &Wine a face to face network and platform that promotes publications made by artists, curators and cultural institutions. I have six years of experience in organizing outreach programs and working with young people using the arts - including starting the Thamgidi Magazine. My current positions include; being the director of Thamgidi Foundation, working as Secretary General of WHAA foundation, managing the IFAA festival and art platform.

    2008 - President of the Jury at the Dakar Biennale in Senegal.
    2008 – 09 - Secretary General of Res Artis
    2008 – 09 - Advisory board member of the Gelders Balkon - Museum of Modern Art in Arnhem.
    1999-01 - Chairman of the Visual Arts Association in Bulawayo Zimbabwe, a position I resigned when I moved to Europe.
    2000 -0I I was invited to Bayreuth Germany for two weeks to work under the guidance of professor Till Foster at Iwalewa Haus and Christine Scherer, Cultural -anthropologist. During this two week period, I raised together with Ms. Scherer 160.000 D. Mark for the Kunst aus Zimbabwe Kunst in Zimbabwe project.
    1997 - I worked as an art teacher, doing outreach projects, with the focus on street children, Zimbabwe.
    1997 - Illustrated books for the physiotherapy department, pregnancy and exercise at the Mpilo hospital Zimbabwe.

    GROUP EXHIBITIONS
    2010 – Lingewaard manifestatie
    2009 - PANAF International exhibition in Algiers
    2009 - Africa 53 exhibition at the Cooper & Civic galleries in Barnsley, UK
    2009 -“Oorlog: ben je medeplichtig?” at Pakhuis Wilhelmina in Amsterdam, in collaboration with Frouwkje Smit about her video the Missing Book by Lamko Koulsy
    2008- AIR-4 (Art in Red Light) International exhibition at the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam
    2006 - Kelvingrove museums and Galleries officially opened by her Majesty the Queen of England. The installation is displayed alongside Picasso, Rembrandt and Dali Glasgow, Scotland.
    2007 - House of Wonders Museum, international exhibition, film festival of the Dhow countries, Zanzibar, Tanzania
    2007- Douala Biennale, Cameroon
    2007 – Lingewaard manifestatie
    2007- Mundi Gallery, Atlanta, USA
    2003 - Four person exhibition in Maastricht, Netherlands
    2001- KUNST aus Zimbabwe KUNST in Zimbabwe, Museum of Bayreuth, Germany.
    2001 - Black Magic Woman Festival Exhibition, Amsterdam, Netherlands
    1999 - Ricoleta Cultural Centre , Buenos Aires Argentina
    1998 - (Give A DAM) Soil and Water Exhibition, National gallery Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
    1998 - Coming of Age , Aschaffenburg Germany
    1998 - Dusto Verden Multi Cultural Exhibition, Asia, Latin America and Africa in Norway
    1997- Longman’s Women Exhibition National Gallery of Zimbabwe
    1997 - VAAB Exhibition, National Gallery Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
    1996 - Lamuhla - Lakusasa Young Artist, National Gallery in Bulawayo Zimbabwe
    1996 - Furniture and Furnishings National Gallery Bulawayo Zimbabwe
    1996 - Longman Women’s biennale, National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare
    1996 - Building Bridges, Gothenburg, Sweden
    1996 - VAAB Exhibtion “Visual Artist Association Bulawayo” Zimbabwe

    SOLO EXHIBITIONS
    2006 - Galerie 23, Amsterdam, Netherlands
    2005 - Living in the diaspora, Kasteel Ammerzoyen, Netherlands
    2004 - Galerie Manjefiek, Maastricht, Netherlands
    2003 - Afrika Studie Centrum in Leiden, Netherlands
    2003 - Changing faces Exhibition, the Ostrich in Utrecht, Netherlands
    2003 - Hope, Oranje Castle in Diez, Germany
    2003 - A Time to Change, Gekko Gallery in Utrecht, Netherlands
    2002 - A time to Change, Heidelberg, Germany
    2001 - Galerie kunstVerdieping Doetinchem, Netherlands
    2001 - Galerie Zvakanaka, in Borne Netherlnds
    2000 - Afrika Studie Centrum in Leiden Netherlands
    1999 - New Horizons, National Gallery in Bulawayo Zimbabwe 1999 - Sounds of Silence, Gallery Wawana in Maastricht, Netherlands
    1998 - Without a Name, School of African Awareness, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
    1997 - Still Searching, National Gallery in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

    JOINT EXHIBITIONS
    2003 - De Molenaar”, in Maastricht, Netherlands
    1997 - Nguni Textiles at Mzilikazi Art Centre, with Voti Thebe in Bulawayo Zimbabwe

    WORKSHOPS / LECTURES
    2010 - Personal work from a country in decline – Hivos / Africa day organized by Vermeer Foundation in The Hague
    2010 - Workshop- Art in public space - in Huissen, Netherlands
    2009 - Art and Africa now – at the Africa Day organized by Vermeer Foundation in The Hague
    2009 - Lecture on Identity and Integration in Dordrecht, Netherlands
    2008 - Guest advisor at the Dutch art Institute in Enschede, Netherlands
    2008 - Workshop-Waar kom ik Vandaan- in Huissen, Netherlands
    2007 - Workshop-Art &Young people Huissen, Netherlands
    1998-2003 - Painting workshops Maastricht, Netherlands
    1998-2002 – Workshops at the National Gallery, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
    1998 – Painting workshops at Gallerie Wawana, Maastricht, Netherlands
    1996 - Building bridges painting workshop, Sweden

    GUEST ARTIST IN RESIDENCY
    2001- Iwalewa-haus, Bayreuth, Germany
    1998 - Wawana Foundation, Maastricht, Netherlands
    1997 - National gallery of Bulawayo in Zimbabwe with the support of Alliance Francaise
    1998 - Aschaffenburg Germany
    1996 - Konstepidemin Goteborg Sweden

    PERMANENT COLLECTION
    2 Paintings National Gallery in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
    39 Paintings Selborne and Greys Inn Hotels, Zimbabwe
    2 Paintings at Alliance Francaise de Bulawayo
    1 Painting Hivos Harare
    3 paintings Portuguese Embassy
    1 Painting Frolunda Sweden
    Incised ostrich egg installation, Kelvingrove Museum Glasgow, Scotland

    WALL MURALS
    Wall painting at Matopos, Zimbabwe
    Wall painting in Khumalo, Zimbabwe

    ILLUSTRATIONS
    Physiotherapy Book for Pregnancy and exercise Zimbabwe
    Information Leaflet for Mpilo Hospital Bulawayo Zimbabwe
    Illustration of the book cover of the thesis “Prevention and Treatment of Hemodialysis –Thrombosis” Utrecht, Holland

    RESTORATION
    Cyrene mission (restoration of a church which is on the UNESCO world heritage list)

    COMMISSIONS
    2004-2006 Kelvingrove Museums and galleries, Glasgow, Scotland (official opening in 2006 by her majesty the queen of England)

    AWARDS AND GRANTS
    1996- 6 months residency Prize from “Alliance Francaise”, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
    1997- Provincial Award of Artist against Poverty in Byo Zimbabwe
    1998- Bulawayo National Gallery’s most promising Artist of the Year Residency award.
    2007 - Arts management training for Independent Autonomous Art centers, by Asia-Europe Foundation, Trans Europe Halles and Artfactories, Paris.
    2007– 08 CLP Cultural Leadership Training Program, UK





    Publications

    Publications

    Footsteps of Change solo exhibition catalogue of Sithabile Mlotshwa
    Kunst Aus Zimbabwe Kunst in Zimbabwe
    Coming of Age
    African Women – mama Panaf in Algiers
    Building bridges Sweden
    Dakart 2008

    Links on the Web

    www.mlotshwa.blogspot.com
    http://allafrica.com/stories/200907200053.html
    http://www.aicanederland.org/?p=359
    http://indepartspacestraining2007.wordpress.com/participants/sithabile-mlotshwa/
    http://www.facebook.com/people/Ifaa-Art-Platform/1592493017
    www.thamgidi.org
    www.ifaa-net.eu
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