exhibition

Lebohang Kganye
Haufi nyana? I’ve come to take you home

Lebohang Kganye focuses on exploring her family's personal and collective ‘micro histories’. Her work is embedded in the wider history of South Africa from before, during, and in the aftermath of apartheid and colonialism. The exhibition shows the artist's complex visual vocabulary and the diversity of media and approaches she engages with — from photographic montages to spatial installation, and from film animation to patchwork.

The idea of home

Effortlessly moving within the sphere of possibilities, Kganye develops methods of decolonizing the medium of photography and South African cultural heritage.

‘Haufi nyana?’ means ‘Too close?’ in Sesotho, one of the eleven official languages of South Africa. The exhibition title refers to the nature of the dialogue between a viewer and the artist: how far can one enter a photographic autobiography on the one hand, and how much can one share a personal story on the other? It also refers to the idea of ‘home’ — which can be far, close, or too close… perhaps even simultaneously.

About the artist

Lebohang Kganye (1990, Johannesburg, SA) received her introduction to photography at the Market Photo Workshop in Johannesburg, in 2009 and completed the Advanced Photography Programme in 2011. She obtained a diploma in Fine Arts from the University of Johannesburg in 2014 and is currently doing her masters' in Fine Arts at Witwatersrand University. Apart from the Foam Paul Huf Award 2022, other notable recent awards include the Grand Prix Images Vevey 2021/22, Paulo Cunha e Silva Art Prize 2020 and the Camera Austria Award of 2019.

“Habo Patience ka bokhathe II” from “Ke Lefa Laka: Her-Story”, 2013 © Lebohang Kganye.

Interactive tour

Experience the current exhibition by Lebohang Kganye in a unique way. Foam Forward Tours are based on the expertise of young students, who will guide you through the exhibition with short interactive assignments.

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“Shadows of Re-Memory”, Film Still 1, 2021 © Lebohang Kganye.

Watch the Pakhuis de Zwijger talk with Lebohang Kganye

Still from: Reflecting on the idea of 'home' with Lebohang Kganye: Foam x Pakhuis de Zwijger
1:32:58

Moderator Dymphie Braun, the show's curator Daria Tuminas and Lebohang Kganye explore how the artist's work developed alongside her interest in her family history.

Winner of the Foam Paul Huf Award

Lebohang Kganye is the 16th winner of the Foam Paul Huf Award, an internationally acclaimed photography prize aiming to support generational talents and provide a platform for photographers from across the world. The prize has been organised by Foam every year since 2007 and is awarded by an international independent professional jury, which for this edition comprised of Alona Pardo (chair, curator at Barbican Art Gallery, London), Oscar Muñoz (visual artist and founder of Lugar a Dudas, Colombia), Oluremi Onabanjo (associate curator at MoMA, New York), Anna-Kaisa Rastenberger (artistic director at Finnish Museum of Photography) and Demet Yıldız Dinçer (photography department manager at Istanbul Modern, Turkey). The Foam Paul Huf Award consists of a cash prize of €20.000 and a solo exhibition at Foam.

For more information or press requests, please see here or contact our press office at pressoffice@foam.org.

The Foam Paul Huf Award was made possible by the generous support of Mentha Capital.

Foam especially thanks the Foam Friends Foundation and Foam Fund for their contribution to this exhibition.


cutouts man sitting on front lawn child chicken woman holding baby

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Lebohang Kganye
Haufi nyana? I’ve come to take you home