Mbali Dhlamini

Born in 1990, is a multidisciplinary artist and visual researcher. She lives and works in Johannesburg. In 2015, she graduated with a master’s degree from the University of the Witwatersrand. Dhlamini performs visual, tactile, and discursive investigations into current Indigenous cultural practices. With a view toward decolonized practices in contemporary culture, her work is in constant conversation with her past and present visual landscapes. Working to maintain a state of unlearning and relearning, in her process, Dhlamini recognizes language as a medium of understanding and as a repository of knowledge. Dhlamini’s visual research considers ‘site-specific discourse’ as a methodology. She presented her projects in Dakar, Senegal, at the Black Rock Senegal artist residency in 2021, and within the Raw Materials Company Fellowship in 2017. Her recent undertaking using archival materials from the World Council of Churches was performed in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2021. Her work has been exhibited in art galleries and institutions locally and internationally.

 

The Look Into

The Look Into is an ongoing series of digitally reworked colonial portraits from the 19th century depicting West Africans wearing traditional clothing. The images come from the national archives in Senegal and the artist often titles her works in a citation-like way, provoking viewers to cross-reference and further exploration.

The series was created as part of a 2017 research fellowship at the RAW Material Company in Dakar (Senegal) and developed in 2021 during her time at Kehinde Wiley’s Black Rock residency in Dakar. The Look Into is an investigation into the cultural significance of traditional indigo dyeing and the symbolism of indigo fabrics within Indigenous Senegalese communities. It’s aim is to open up discussions about knowledge systems and the importance of Indigenous philosophies in contemporary societies. The three selected images are works developed at various stages of Dhlamini’s years-long research into the relationship between the environment, culture, and people, carried out by examining the cultural significance of the indigo plant.