The Bag Factory is delighted to announce that Cheriese Dilrajh and Hemali Khoosal have been selected as joint recipients of the annual Young Womxn Studio Bursary, funded by Bag Factory alumni artist Sam Nhlengethwa. They will share a fully funded studio bursary at the Bag Factory for twelve months from October 2020 to September 2021.

Ntirho lowuntshwa wa Sifiso Mkhabela wa swifaniso swo dirowiwa no pendiwa ari kari a tirhisa swo hambanahambana ku endla ntirho lowu, wu nghenelela ngopfu eku hlumusela maendlelo ya ku tlhaveriwa(Ukugcatjwa) – Kunga kona kunga tsemeleriwaka hi xi rezani hi na’nga.

In art criticism ‘nonrepresentational’ is a synonym for ‘abstract’. Used here, it draws attention to the fact that we do not represent the artists in the show, and it echoes the term ‘invitational’, an Americanism that describes a sports tournament open by invitation only.

The universal tropes that the artist explores in these seven works are so immense, so all-encompassing and so in urgent need of addressing that we are encouraged to pause here, to slow down, tiger, and to take in the erratic year that has been both the longest and the shortest time.

In the song Thuma Mina (Send Me), Hugh Masekela pens the lyrics “I wanna be there when the people start to turn it around”, which rings true to the very first words in South Africa’s Constitution, “We, the People”.