iBHANDE

Nathi Khumalo

Visual Practitioner

Bio

Nathi Khumalo is an award winning visual practitioner who works primarily in photography from Orlando West, Soweto a township within Johannesburg, South Africa,His lived most of his life moving around different areas of the Soweto, Johannesburg and West Rand with the all of his primary and secondary studies happed in Yeovile Boys Primary and Hoerskool Die Adelalar in Roodeport. He Studied at Photography at the Market Photo Workshop from 2012 and completed the Advance programme in Photography in 2014.

His artwork focus on varies themes such as :social commentary on issues of representation and identity and how clothes became part of the daily act while dressing up to the ripple effect of sporadic xenophobia, Consumerism and long-time body of work around family relationships and dynamic of living from a boy to father within South Africa. Khumalo’s artworks have been exhibited and showcased in France, India, Myanmar, South Africa, , United States of America and Zambia, . His has also been featured on several publications of note.

Khumalo spent a month in Lusaka Zambia, as a Modzi Artist Resident in 2019 tilted Afrolous Residency to relook at what most deemed as the perfect “exile destination” and explore the notion of exile and what it means in contemporary society. There he produced a series titled, “Iphakathi ‘ripple effect’,” which was a commentary on the xenophobic attacks which occurred in September 2019. A continuation of work which he started during the RMB Talent Unlock mentorship: Iphakthi which interrogates the idea of clothes and what they mean to us. He also produced a series titled Ukudingiswa where he photographed around Lusaka and Livingston look at how land is being used and occupied and most of the historical spaces that were used and some demolished by the Apartheid government of South Africa

He is a founding member of the collective “Between Life and Death”. The work that collective did on family archives was part of the photography DAC Photography Incubator edition 4 at Market Photo Workshop and was featured on France newspaper Le’Monde on the geographical new around the xenophobia attacks that occurred in 2019

In 2018 he co-founded FSTOP CLUB SA, a company focused on promoting self-publishing ideas and innovative ways to display artworks, through Zine making and photobooks. They produced 3 editions of facilitated workshops and publicly curated exhibitions.2020 F-Stop Club was part of the Hub@Goethe Cultural and Entrepreneurial Mentorship by Goethe Institute 2021 showcased at Imagination Nights. In 2022 they produced a documentary for Open Society Foundation and designed with 5 participants that looked at Climate Change and its effects on local communities.

U-Collaboration: A Transforming City” which showcased images from alumnus of the Photo Workshop between 2012-2017, at the U-care centre clinic in Park station was his debut curatorial show, ‘ Since then he has co-curated a show, at the Bronx Documentary Centre in New York, USA, as part of a 30 year celebration since David Goldblatt started the Market Photo Workshop Titled Transition South Africa. Has since Co-Curated 3 group exhibitions with F-stop Club SA around the Market Square Building. Curated the F-stop Club SA stall at Imagination Night at Goethe Institute in 2021, Alternative Mining Indaba 2022 Cape Town

Cell: 0817136606

Iphakathi Artist Statement

Nathi Khumalo a photographic practitioner from Soweto in Johnnesburg, he chose to

use self-portraits and performance art to question what role the clothes that we wear

have in our everyday. If Africa has been under conquest of foreign nations since the 7 th

Century, have we always been prescribe to a form of appearance governed by the

items we wear?

I began asking myself the question of how we associate certain stereotypes to items

that are for ‘national pride’; ‘work uniform against our prestigious event attires’ can we

start to have conversation on what do they mean to our contemporary society.

My intention of creating this body of work was to rise these questions because I feel like

the way we chose to represent ourselves is very interesting factor in our identity as

“Africans” in the 21 centaury.

As we see change in the world over the past couple of years, where culture and sub-

culture are becoming more interlinked, what role is this playing on how we dress. How

far can we stretch these binaries?

With the Marvel movie ‘Black Panther’ which brought about a feeling of pride to being

‘African’ what message is that saying for us as everyday ‘African’? Not necessarily

feeling that I need to look in a certain way to feel like I belong.

Due to so many years of been told how to “look appropriated” or to “behave

accordingly.” Are constantly feeling like there is a need to justify and explain ourselves

and our existence. What psychological effects has this caused?

As part of social commentary of how to question the stereotypes that become

associated with items worn for creating national pride, traditional practice, casual, formal

and to examines their mean in contemporary society.

Iphakathi

Series

From Iphakati series

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From Iphakati series

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From Iphakati series

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From Iphakati series

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From Iphakati series

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From Iphakati series

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From Iphakati series

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From Iphakati series

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Iphakathi

‘ripple effect’

- Artist Statements

Iphakathi : Rpple Effect-“ the continuing and spreading results of an event or action”.

Xenophobic violence happening in South Africa, and the ripple effect of these incidents have had influenced Khumalo work. He has found himself having to answer the questions: What is happening? Why is this happening? How it started? His piece Ripple Effect emerged as a response and commentary to this.

Khumalo photographs evoke the ‘spirit of the beats’ that is at constant war with the ‘spirit of life’. The spirits in Khumalos work act as a character which exist to oppsition to each other, spilling blood surrounding the territory of land. His representation od the ‘spirits’ call onto the Bantu people, once the largest ethnic group and known for the greatest human migration, o comment on the long time effect of the divide and conquer style that was used for generations, by the colonial powers, to control them and prevent them from uniting. His comments on the constant seeking to belong, the territory of land and space and how the borders paly a part in the conversation of whom we are. He has used himself , as booth the artist and subject, to embody and transform into the ‘spritis’ he portrays. The final results is a performance which allowed him to dissolve feeling of angerand rage which he dispatches onto each frame. These images are part of a larger project titled Iphakathi, which investigate how we use clothing to construct our identity.

“Iphakathi

‘ripple effect’

Series