Lindokuhle Sobekwa in Conversation with Renée Mussai Retracing Memory: Going Deeper

A landscape with a single tree in the centre of the image, wire around its base and a small mound of stones

Symbols of graves, 2020 © Lindokuhle Sobekwa | Magnum Photos

Join curator Renée Mussai and the 2023-2024 John Kobal Foundation Fellow, Lindokuhle Sobekwa in conversation

Following on from Lindokuhle Sobekwa’s inaugural lecture in 2023, this talk explores how his photography connects lived experiences and ancestral narratives to the wider socio-political fabric of contemporary South Africa and beyond.

This informal conversation is guided by the mapping of a diverse lineage of photographers who have influenced or are in dialogue with Sobekwa’s own creative practice. It traces connections and similarities, visually, thematically and otherwise, that are evident across their work.

Throughout this event, Sobekwa engages with the materiality of the photographic prints and books projected for the audience to see, creating a layered map of connections.

This map-making, accompanied by the conversation with curator Renée Mussai, forms part of a retrospective investigation of Sobekwa's own journey and formation as a creative practitioner. It focuses on ‘looking inward' - at notions of family, absence and presence, ancestral homelands, and the delineations and restrictions instituted by the Apartheid regime, amongst other themes.

Part of the John Kobal Foundation Fellowship Lecture Series

Lindokuhle Sobekwa

Born in Katlehong, Johannesburg in 1995, Sobekwa began photography in 2012 through his participation in the Of Soul and Joy photography education programme received a scholarship to study at the Market Photo Workshop in 2015, undertook a residency with No Man's Art Gallery in Iran in 2016, and in 2021 completed a residency at A4 Foundation in Cape Town. In 2017 he was selected by the Magnum Foundation for Photography and Social Justice (NYC) to develop the project 'I carry Her photo with Me', which will be published by Mack Books in 2024. Sobekwa became a Magnum Nominee in 2018 and a Member in 2022.

Renée Mussai

Renée Mussai is an independent curator, writer and scholar. Formerly senior curator at Autograph for more than two decades, she is research associate at VIAD, University of Johannesburg, and associate lecturer at University of the Arts London. Her forthcoming books include ‘Eyes That Commit—A Visual Gathering’ and ‘Black Chronicles: Photography, Race and Difference in Victorian Britain’ (2024/25).

All Tate Modern entrances are step-free. Access to this event will be via the Cinema Entrance, which is located on the west side of Tate Modern, between the Turbine Hall entrance and Corner Café.

The entrance and talk are both on Level 1 of the Natalie Bell building, with step-free access from the entrance through to the front section of the cinema.

The Starr Cinema is equipped with a hearing loop.

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A quiet room is available to use in the Natalie Bell Building on Level 4.
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