Notes

'With the spirit of humanity instilled in me by Desmond Tutu's passion for his country and its people I was inspired to create this artwork. This artwork is a representation of Ubuntu (Humanity), drawing inspiration from Desmond Tutu’s quote “My humanity is bound up with yours, for we can only be human together."

In this artwork, I reference an old passbook that was carried back in the apartheid regime by black people in South Africa. If you were stopped in the street without a passbook law enforcement, arrested you. Many South Africans including Desmond Tutu contributed to the downfall of these oppressive systems. The passbook system deprived us of being fully human. Working against systems of oppression designed to de-humanise people creates opportunities to reunite and embrace Ubuntu.' –Betinho Mokwane

Born in Soweto, Gauteng, Betinho Mokwane is currently completing his third year at the Artist Proof Studio. Mokwane is an active member of the APS student body and has been involved in numerous corporate commissions – translating the medium of printmaking into relief carved mural works with the Special Projects team. With an interest in combination printing, in particular, monotype, screenprinting, etching and linocut, Mokwane has extended his skillset into a range of designs that he then silkscreens onto t-shirts as a business. Mokwane has exhibited with the Artist Proof Studio in collaboration with Strauss & Co at the Turbine Art Fair (2018/19), The Legacy exhibition (2019) as well as the Joburg Art Fair (2019). He was awarded the Ubuntu Student Award from the Artist Proof Studio in 2020 (voted by the artists at APS).

Proceeds from the sale of this lot will go to the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation.