Turbine Art Fair 2023

July 27, 2023 - July 30, 2023

And just like that, Turbine Art Fair 2023 has come and gone. Undeniably one of the highlights on the Joburg art calendar, the four-day event was hosted at its new home at Hyde Park Corner from July 27 – 31.

In a departure from our 2022 debut at the Fair when we showcased the full depth and breadth of artistic talent in our stable, we elected to focus all attention this year on Fumani Walter Maluleke.

This decision was soon justified as visitors were instantly drawn to his scenes of rural Limpopo life rendered on traditional grass mats. His works touched many visitors who were transported to their childhoods through the familiar scenes that Maluleke has depicted.

The choice of subject matter and medium are no coincidence. The exhibition’s title, Mundzuku U Hlawulekile, roughly translated as “No time like the future”, is a riff on the well-known adage “No time like the present”. The title alludes to his desires to bring traditional cultural beliefs once held so firmly into the present, as well as into the future.

The activity and foot traffic passing through Booth 14 at the Fair were a clear sign that Maluleke’s work has stuck a chord. This translated into a steady flow of purchases by eager art collectors, with a great number more friendships struck between art lovers and the artist himself.

Fumani Walter Maluleke’s background

Born in Limpopo, Maluleke has carried with him the spirit of art for as long as he can remember. From being the unruly child who drew in schoolbooks, and on the walls of his family home, to the one who won all the art prizes and then the one who shared his skill set with the next generation as an art teacher. 

On arriving in Johannesburg Maluleke, his wife and his child all slept on grass thatch mats as was customary back home. 

Today, that lingers in his work in which he references the sanctuary of home. However he also explores his own sense of home while alluding to a broader context of home and by extension, our collective relationship with nature, and the planet as a whole.

His underlying message is clear: “… we almost never find the opportunity to touch nature here in the city. That part of us that was so common is now for a few of us”. 

Fumani Walter Maluleke’s works

If you weren’t able to attend Turbine Art Fair 2023 but would like to see more of Fumani’s work, you can still be mesmerised by downloading a catalogue of his available artworks.

You can also read our show curator Nolan Stevens' blog post on TAF2023.