BULELWA SELECTED FOR ZEITZ MUSEUM PROGRAMME

MBABANE – Bulelwa Kunene, an intern at Yebo Art Gallery in Ezulwini, has been selected for the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa’s joint fellowship programme with the University of the Western Cape located in Cape Town, South Africa (SA).

Kunene graduated from Ringling College of Art and Design in 2021, she has been working at the gallery since April last year and has contributed to three of their exhibitions. She also took part as a facilitator in their handcraft training programme in partnership with the International Trade Center’s Alliances for Action Programme funded by the European Union. She is one of five African curators, artists and writers who have been selected for this fellowship which will run from February 2023 to January 2024. The programme will be in its second iteration next year and will offer the participants practical museum experience at Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa. They will also be attending classes at the University of the Western Cape as part of the university’s humanities department.

Honours

Their fellowship will culminate in a research paper from each fellow as well as an honours degree award upon completion of the programme. When asked how she felt about this opportunity, Kunene stated: “I am really excited about the prospect of being part of these two really great institutions for a year. I am appreciative of the efforts being made by both Zeitz MOCAA and UWC to grow the pool of young African curators. As someone who has been engaged in the arts in Eswatini through Yebo for about a year, I have had the privilege of being able to see the massive amount of potential our creative industry has, that unfortunately is so untapped because of a lack of resources for many people working in this sector. I hope that upon completion, I will be able to share my experiences and the new perspective I am sure to gain from working in and learning from such well-established and positioned institutions.”

She went on to say: “I have gained a lot of new experiences as an intern at Yebo, so I am looking forward to a continued relationship between myself and the gallery.” Through her experience at Yebo, she has gained a huge appreciation for the handcraft sector. “My research will be focused on the curatorial considerations of exhibiting handcraft work in creative institutions and ways the creative sector in Eswatini can contribute to amending existing power imbalances and exploitative practices between artisans and the art market. The particulars of my research are still being hashed out but I am really interested in how we can protect women, specifically low-income rural women within the handcraft space.” Aleta Armstrong, Yebo Director said: “We are thrilled that Bulelwa has been given this fantastic opportunity, it is a well-deserved appointment! We are excited to see her journey as a young African curator continue to develop.

Enthusiasm

‘‘But obviously we are sad too and we will all miss her passion, enthusiasm and hard work for contemporary art and handcraft. We know she will continue helping the creative industry of Eswatini and really look forward to working with her in the future.”

Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) is a public, not-for-profit institution that exhibits, collects, preserves and researches contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora; conceives and hosts international exhibitions; develops supporting educational, discursive and enrichment programmes; encourages intercultural understanding; and strives for access for all. It is the largest museum of contemporary African art in the world. The museum’s galleries feature rotating, temporary exhibitions with a dedicated space for the permanent collection. The institution also includes the Centre for Art Education, the Centre for the Moving Image and a project space for emerging artists.

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