43 min
Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi: Making Art is a Way of Thinking and Releasing Latitudes Podcast
-
- Visual Arts
In episode 8 of the Latitudes Podcast, host Refiloe Mpakanyane talks to the dynamic New York born, South African-based, multi-media artist Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi, who received the Tollman Award for the Visual Arts in 2019 and the Phillippe Wamba Prize in African Studies in 2004. Nkosi has collaborated, exhibited and studied globally and is popularly known for her pastel-hued paintings of triumphant Black gymnasts as well as her series of portraits of influential Black figures.
In this conversation, Nkosi unpacks the genesis and process behind some of her pieces; she sheds light on her studio practice, as well as her emphatic belief that love can be a force for meaningful change. Nkosi explains how her vibrant heritage (South African father and Greek-American mother) and being born “in exile” have influenced much of the direction of her work. Be it synthesising the “disparate” elements of one’s identity; or looking critically at the seemingly benign conventions of our lives: Nkosi's art is deeply considered and grounded in thorough research that lays bare the workings and consequences of our shared imperial and colonial history, while also imagining an alternative and fascinating present.
*A quick note that the poem alluded to in the conversation is called First Petition by Divya Victor
In episode 8 of the Latitudes Podcast, host Refiloe Mpakanyane talks to the dynamic New York born, South African-based, multi-media artist Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi, who received the Tollman Award for the Visual Arts in 2019 and the Phillippe Wamba Prize in African Studies in 2004. Nkosi has collaborated, exhibited and studied globally and is popularly known for her pastel-hued paintings of triumphant Black gymnasts as well as her series of portraits of influential Black figures.
In this conversation, Nkosi unpacks the genesis and process behind some of her pieces; she sheds light on her studio practice, as well as her emphatic belief that love can be a force for meaningful change. Nkosi explains how her vibrant heritage (South African father and Greek-American mother) and being born “in exile” have influenced much of the direction of her work. Be it synthesising the “disparate” elements of one’s identity; or looking critically at the seemingly benign conventions of our lives: Nkosi's art is deeply considered and grounded in thorough research that lays bare the workings and consequences of our shared imperial and colonial history, while also imagining an alternative and fascinating present.
*A quick note that the poem alluded to in the conversation is called First Petition by Divya Victor
43 min