Deconstructed series: Concrete cocoon

Concrete Cocoon 

Part of the Deconstructed Series 

A solo exhibition featuring Sifiso Mkhabela 

"Concrete Cocoon" by Sifiso Mkhabela is the first exhibition in the ‘Deconstructed’ series of month-long, solo exhibitions at Asisebenze Art Atelier. 

The show’s title references the way a cocoon nestles a caterpillar, enabling the transformation into the final manifestation as a butterfly. This theme is plain to see in Mkhabela's art that explores the city's history, politics, and culture, and the struggle to thrive in a contemporary African city. But just as a butterfly emerges from a cocoon, so too his works hint at a thread of hope throughout. 

Glimpses of the city’s unceasing nature peer at us through the cross-section of mediums he uses in his work. Apart from tying his own identity to the city, Mkhabela poses questions of this city’s own identity, offering soliloquies on how this Afro urban landscape has shifted from what it was to what it is today. 

This exhibition represents a profound exploration of the realities of urban African life, all through the personal and intimate lens of Mkhabela's experiences with the city of Johannesburg.