Kimathi Mafafo, (b. 1984, Kimberly, Northern Cape, South Africa) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practise ranges from embroidery, oil painting to installation. Mafafo obtained a National Diploma in Fine Arts from the College of Cape Town in 2007 and a National Diploma in Film and Video from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in 2016. Born in the semi-arid Kimberley in the Northern Cape of South Africa, Mafafo questions historical stereotypes around gender inequality in Africa. She primarily focuses on celebrating the black female and abstracted forms placing them in often verdant imaging characterised by lush greenery and sensuous drapery, that are far removed from the dusty mining town where she grew up. The artist has recently organized a group of Capetonian woman into an informal traditional embroidery society.
Selected Exhibitions
2021 - In [the] Loop, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa
2020 - Devils In The Details, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2020 - FNB Art Joburg online edition, Main Booth, Johannesburg, South Africa
2020 - Intersect Chicago online edition of SOFA Expo, Chicago, United States of America
2020 - 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair Online, powered by Christie’s, Somerset House in London, United Kingdom
2020 - FEMINIST UTOPIA curated by Anelisa Mangcu, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa
2019 - Embolden at EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa
2018 - Solo Presentation at Investec Cape Town Art Fair, EBONY/CURATED, Booth S5,
2018 - CTICC, Cape Town, South Africa
2017 - Alone in Spring, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa