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The META foundation, in partnership with the End Street Studios, is excited to announce the winner of the :

2022 WOMXN TO WATCH Award

LEBO THOKA

April 2022

The award provides the artist with the following for a period of 3 months:

  • a studio space, at End Street Studios
  • the opportunities to participate in any group exhibitions curated by the META foundation
  • the opportunity to participate in any August House activities
  • a solo show with the META foundation
  • featured (included in) August House/Meta foundation website and publicity materials
Participating artists
include:

Why is this award important?

According to a 2010 national study on the visual arts, conducted by the Department of Arts and Culture, only 12% of women make a living from creating art in South Africa. Of which, 9% are White and 3% are Black, Colored and Indians combined. The META foundation and End Street Studios are committed to supporting the practice of young, womxn artists. Not only by providing them with space to work from but supporting them with the freedom to explore their work and develop their voices. Through this process, the hope is that they become self-sustaining, full time practicing artists who in years to come, change the status quo.

 

About the Partnership    

The META foundation and End Street Studios have come together to launch this award. End Street Studios was founded by Bronwen Lace in 2016 and when it moved into August House it quickly became a space for womxn artists to evolve their practice. The META foundation has instigated this award. Based at August House, the META foundation will oversee the day to day running of the residency programme. It is our hope that through such a programme more womxn artists will find their voices.

 

About End Street Studios

End Street Studios is located on the 2nd floor of August House. The space does not separate itself from August House but rather runs as a faction within August House, which just happens to have a name attached to it. It consists of a community of artists who work in a mixed-use space, collective space. Consisting of nine studio spaces, ranging in size, the space invites artists to work and create within it. End Street Studios was a collective studio initiated by Bronwyn Lace in 2016, out of the need for an artist community to work alongside one another, as well as be a solution to the sharing of costs of space and logistics of having a studio. While the initiative is no longer run by Lace, as she has moved onto new and exciting projects, it continues to operate with a new bevy of emerging and mid-career artists.

 

Artists

Lebo Thoka

Lebo is a Johannesburg based photographer, image re-toucher and artist. Born and raised in Johannesburg she studied at the Open Window Institute and during her third year of study, she began to branch out into being a photographic artist. In 2018 she graduated Cum Laude with a BA in Visual Communication majoring in Photography.

 

She has had multiple solo exhibitions with David Krut Gallery. She has won a Loerie certificate award for Print and Design Crafts (photography) in 2018 and has featured in multiple local and international exhibitions. Her work has been shown at the 2018 Addis Foto Fest in Ethiopia, she has been shortlisted for the 2019 Contemporary African Photography Prize, The Royal Photographic Society International Photography exhibition 2021, and she is a recipient of the New Generation Prize of the PHMuseum Women photographer’s grant 2020. Her work has been featured in publications such as The Daily Sun, The Sowetan, The Washington Post and The New York Times’ online platforms. Thoka’s visual work is mainly influenced by her being a Feminist. The topics she covers range from the issue of femicide in South Africa, the nuanced experiences of navigating South Africa and the larger world as a black woman, as well as exploring black womanhood in proximity to topics such as religion, history vs present-day, culture, agency, etc. Her work largely uses the repurposing of objects to translate new meanings and narratives with which she addresses social issues linked to navigating black womanhood and the violence it faces within society.

Gallery

Artworks Gallery
Lebo Thoka
Lebo Thoka