Lit.Culture is a cultural movement rooted in African literature, radical thought, and narratives that shape modern life. Founded as a response to the need for a deeper literary engagement outside of mainstream circuits, Lit.Culture boasts a vibrant space where books, ideas, and performance intersect.

Vision Lit.Culture envisions a world where literature is a tool for resistance, imagination, and transformation. It remains dedicated to nurturing a literary community that values critical thought, cultural expression, and social liberation.

What We Offer Lit.Culture offers a meticulously curated cultural experience that includes curated reading lists, literary discussions and cross-disciplinary events combining literature, art, and performance. Our selection of books is focused on:

● African and diasporic literature

● Political theory, art, philosophy, and history

● Critical race studies

● Decolonial thought and revolutionary movements

● Poetry, independent fiction, and academic works

● Rare and out-of-print books

● Music literature, particularly on jazz and African sonic traditions

Programs & Collaborations Lit.Culture actively collaborates with universities, galleries, and cultural institutions to amplify literary culture through events and curated experiences. Notable collaborators include:

● Unisa

● UJ Arts & Culture

● The Centre for the Less Good Idea

● Unisa Art Gallery

● Breezeblock Cafe

● LAPA

● UKZN Press

My artistic practice delves into the intricate interplay between the natural and the human, particularly as we navigate an era of profound ecological change. In Shifting Grounds, I continue my exploration of environmental disruption, yet my focus has evolved to imagine new, speculative landscapes born from this very instability. My work exists in a liminal space where the boundaries between the organic and the artificial are not just blurred, but actively reconfigured.

Drawing inspiration from a deep fascination with the resilience of nature, I create immersive visual ecosystems that transcend the familiar. Through a process of experimentation, I construct new realities that are both fragile and tenacious—a reflection of a world in constant flux. My landscapes are not depictions of a ruined past, but rather visions of a future that is still unfolding. They are invitations to consider the possibilities of adaptation and coexistence in an environment perpetually reshaped by human-induced pressures.

By combining visceral textures and layered visual fields, I aim to engage the viewer in a sensory experience that challenges their perception of what is real and what is possible. My work serves as a reminder that the ground beneath us is constantly shifting, both literally and metaphorically. It is a dialogue with the unseen and the emerging, a quiet rumination on how we might re-inhabit a world in a state of continuous transformation. Ultimately, I strive to create work that not only acknowledges our precarious ecological state but also inspires a shift in perspective-one that fosters hope and new ways of seeing.

Folowing my 2024 exhibition in which I unpacked my artistic research and praxis around unraveling what I describe as a ‘colonial blueprint’, in this new body of work I consider where that unraveling has since taken me. What came out of that process was a journey back into deeply embodied modes of knowing, being, and doing, attuning to what Sylvia Wynter describes as ‘autopoietic being’. Where my previous work wrestled with a colonial blueprint and how to unravel or renegotiate my orientation to it, my new work seeks to attune to the rhythms of ‘aesthesis’ and ‘decolonial aesthesis’, whilst unrave ling the Western canon of art and aesthetics present in my life and education. Taking my kitchen table - a place for me of communion and love - as one of my earliest sensory and creative connections to aesthesis, I have begun to create work that, in one way or another, connects to the labour of preparing food for others. Taking tablecloths that are dyed with food and mended; preparing and sharing beloved recipes such as 'tè al limone' and 'magwinya'; creating paintings with bread dough; baking picture frames out of bread; al of these works are acts of mending and of care. These are attempts towards a reparative act, which I do not think of as one that can ‘fix’ what was previously broken, cast aside, or othered. I do not think of repair as an action that can return something to its former, unbroken state. Rather I think of ‘repair’ as an act of mending, one that evidences the mending done, and in so doing, holds what was and builds on it something that can begin to breathe again.

Image courtesy of r1

"To imagine a future, we must first confront the masks we wear in the present "

This is a collaborative exhibition project between 7 artists from August House who are on the same floor (upper ground). We have been working on this project for two months. This exhibition is for all of us to let go and let down, to dream, wonder, express, and imagine the future we want for ourselves with the people around us. To affirm, reflect, confront, & and channel our highest frequency & vibrancy. To face our fears and release all our burdens. This is an open conversation exhibition, where we all share and express what we should UNMASK or our thoughts and feelings on how we relate to the artworks.

We are excited to share this exhibition and the reigns that the artworks represent. I am looking forward to giving you tours and unpacking the artworks during the opening.

Participating Artists

@alpheusngoepe @iamshloboe @nwabisantl0kwana @Nomonde Mtetwa @mongezincombo @devolutionery_ @aushie_art