About the artist
Phoka Nyokong is a multi-talented artist, curator, writer and researcher. His practice is transdisciplinary and encompasses performance, sound/video and installation, photography, storytelling, curating, writing, drawing and a current extensive focus on painting. Phoka's previous exhibitions have been mostly with public institutions, and a few with private institutions.
Nyokong holds an honours degree in Curatorship from the Centre for Curating the Archive (CCA). He lives and works between Pretoria and Cape Town, where he is pursuing an MA in Live Art, Interdisciplinary and Public Art with the Institute for Creative Arts (ICA) at the University of Cape Town.
He is the recipient of the Absa L’Atelier Gerard Sekoto Award for 2019, the Mellon Scholarship in 2019, and most recently, the Live Art Fellowship from the Institute for Creative Arts at University of Cape Town.
.png)
The Benin Tableau (for Charles Nkosi)
Pastel and glitter - 2022
This painting is part of a series created during a residency at NIROX in 2022, which expands on the ongoing series titled Ethnology for Genocide: The History Paintings. This series examines the intersection of African cultural heritage with Western fields such as anthropology, ethnology, museology, religion, and psychology, particularly focusing on the British expedition against the Benin Kingdom in the late 19th century that led to the destruction and looting of its cultural artifacts.
The paintings delve into the politics and poetics of restorative culture, crafting a speculative history by reimagining traditional West African myths. This approach recognises that the history of painting and sculpture - traditionally dominated by Europeans - often incorporated motifs from Africa. Nyokong's inquiry centers on the appropriation of elements used by classical Western painters, including the role of painting as propaganda, particularly evident in neo-classical periods.
In this context, the medium becomes lithography, a refined classical process, underscoring Nyokong's focus on employing classical methodologies to address contemporary issues surrounding cultural heritage in Africa. Through myth and satire, these works reflect on the historical complicity that facilitated the theft of African cultural heritage. They also hint at the collective disorientation we face as we emerge from a devastating global pandemic, serving as both a hymn and metaphor for the envisioned resurgence of African cultural objects.
A Headrest for Matriacha
Pastel and glitter on canvas - 2023
This painting is part of a series created during a residency at NIROX in 2022, which expands on the ongoing series titled Ethnology for Genocide: The History Paintings. This series examines the intersection of African cultural heritage with Western fields such as anthropology, ethnology, museology, religion, and psychology, particularly focusing on the British expedition against the Benin Kingdom in the late 19th century that led to the destruction and looting of its cultural artifacts.
The paintings delve into the politics and poetics of restorative culture, crafting a speculative history by reimagining traditional West African myths. This approach recognises that the history of painting and sculpture - traditionally dominated by Europeans - often incorporated motifs from Africa. Nyokong's inquiry centers on the appropriation of elements used by classical Western painters, including the role of painting as propaganda, particularly evident in neo-classical periods.
In this context, the medium becomes lithography, a refined classical process, underscoring Nyokong's focus on employing classical methodologies to address contemporary issues surrounding cultural heritage in Africa. Through myth and satire, these works reflect on the historical complicity that facilitated the theft of African cultural heritage. They also hint at the collective disorientation we face as we emerge from a devastating global pandemic, serving as both a hymn and metaphor for the envisioned resurgence of African cultural objects.
