Eclectica Contemporary
Sethuthuntshwane (2023)
“Sethuthuntshwane is part of an ongoing series of works that aims to examine the state of feminism in Botswana while making an inquiry into the subtleties of feminist sentiments as well as their opposition, perversion etc. The work, research and performances/public engagements form an undertaking that aims to ‘embody to understand’, materialize and animate the data of these beliefs.”
Botswana National Gallery/Latitudes
Messages to MmaMolao & Loleme (2023)
“Messages to MmaMolao (Transl. “Madam of the Law”) and Loleme (Transl. “tongue”) are video and photographic series that take cue from popularised on-the-street style interviews and draw on the conventions of podcast style interviews with casual social commentary.
Loleme is a mask that is inspired and embodies a subverted Setswana idiom: “go akga loleme”. While figuratively, it means ‘to lie’, the literal translation is ‘to stretch one’s tongue’. The imagery for this series departs from this point and takes into consideration the pan-African norm that knows that “African masks are not intended to mirror real forms. They are designed to reflect the essence of what they stand for” (Balogun, 1990). Understanding that to some or other extent, a mask-wearer may cease to be, for as long as they are behind it, either by fully taking on or becoming a medium for the spirit of the mask itself. In this sense, it became an invitation to participants to’ extend their tongues’ with the sense of shelter realised through anonymity and constructed fiction.”
Botswana National Gallery/Latitudes
Polasi (2023)
“Polasi is an ongoing series of digitized drawings that is a leisurely exploration of present-day Botswana. This exercise functions as a re-induction, for the artist, into Gaborone’s social climate after an extended absence. Through the lens of the folklore traditions that characterize Botswana’s oral culture, this series aims at social reconnection and reflects on experiences that, even as they unfold in real-time, feel like ‘living’ a leinane, omen, legend, lore or lesson. The works interweave the anthropomorphic tropes of traditional storytelling with contemporary commentary and current happenings to illustrate the artist’s observations of the dynamics that structure contemporary Botswana.”
A Pick Galley
Landscapes of Hidden Words (2022)
“Landscapes of Hidden Words presents the work of three artists born in different African countries, Karla Nixon (1990, Durban, South Africa), LegakwanaLeo Makgekgenene (1995, Gaborone, Botswana) and Renée Akitelek Mboya (1986, Nairobi, Kenya), whose research is connected to the reckoning of personal memories and images related to their native spaces and traditions. The three artists reinterpret hidden, oppressed and often misrepresented stories in different ways.”
Sakhile & Me
Maš(w)i a Ditoro (tsa Rona) (2022)
“This group exhibition features four works from the Three Chiefs series. “Taking its cue from this year’s theme for the Venice Biennale, Maš(w)i a Ditoro (tsa Rona) translates specifically to, ‘the Milk of our Dreams’. Where the theme is said to suggest life as constantly re-envisioned through the prism of the imagination, the Setswana translation presents a Botswana satellite that positions and presents the transnational workings of creatives from Botswana in Frankfurt, Germany — in The Botswana Pavilion’s first iteration in Europe.
The translation; ‘The Milk of Our Dreams’ brings into question what it means to share a collective idea or vision, as proposed by the Venice Biennale. Where ‘The Milk of Dreams’ exhibition as curated by Cecilia Alemani in Venice cites a re-envisioning of the imagination- a world where everyone can change, be transformed, become something or someone else- The Botswana Pavilion does so and brings into question notions of collectivity, nationhood, subjectivity, and the politics of belonging (elsewhere).”
Women Soaring Project
Women Antiracists Virtual Exhibition (2022)
Eclectica Contemporary
Truth Be Told (2022)
“Recorded history is foremost the story of conquerors. Real history is something different.
We have invited two multidisciplinary African artists, Williams Chechet (Nigeria) and LegakwanaLeo Makgekgenene (Botswana), to investigate narratives and contested African histories through a digital lens.With titles such as Watch The Throne and What is your Dream, Chechet’s artworks become sites of disruption and interrogation of historical iconography. Recycling logos, text and images from popular culture, Chechet’s images are deliberately taken out of context and overlapped with accessories that invites the viewer to decode decipher complex colonial histories.
Working with digitally manipulated photographs, Makgekgenene’s photographic material makes no attempt towards realism, and opts for a speculative visual language instead. Driven by ecofeminism and performance Makgekgenene’s artworks work highlight the masculine and hierarchical master narratives of Botswana.”
Eclectica Contemporary
Neue Times (2022)
“Friends of Friends and Eclectica Contemporary are coming together to present a pop-up exhibition showcasing a unique variety of art and design in a shared space; Neue Times seeks to disassemble the white cube with a body of work that is sui generis. Manny and the Friends of Friends Soundsystem are set to create a backdrop of sounds ranging from house grooves, funk drive and gentle dub, setting the tone for a unique exhibition experience, right in the heart of Cape Town.”
Michaelis School of Fine Art
Masters Works & Thesis
Bo Mmaruri: Bosadi (2021)
Post-colonial Botswana is analysed in this body of work as an anecdote. Its landscapes, history, culture, traditions, norms and identity are deconstructed and reconstituted in a heterotopia of my own making. Motivated by the decline in the momentum and visibility of Botswana’s women’s movements, the project asks how non-male resistance and self-determination has and can operate in Botswana, particularly in traditional and cultural spaces.
Michaelis School of Fine Art/Eclectica Contemporary
BFA Works & Thesis
Bo Mmaruri (2018)
Bo maaruri: Go rile ba ba ikisang noka go gela nnete ba boela gae digo tsa bone di tletse diphiri fela. E be e fela.
“Translated from Setswana, the title of the exhibition means; those that take themselves to the river to draw truth, return home to find that their calabashes are filled with only secrets. The end. The metaphor refers to the difficulties faced when trying to bring information and imagery from alternate seeing states in to this one.”
LegakwanaLeo Makgekgenene 