uThulisile u’Sikhulisile / Jabulani and my big brother, 2025
Photography, Edition of 10
Diptych: 64,5 cm x 42,5 cm; 44 cm x 64,5 cm
Artist’s Statement
uThulisile u’Sikhulisile is a documentary photography project that centres on my aging mother, Thulisile, as she raises her four grandchildren, the children of my younger sister, Lesego. The title acts as a linguistic metaphor uSikhulisile translates to “you brought us up,” anticipating the day these children grow older and look back to say, “uGogo u’sikhulisile” (Grandmother has raised us).
Through an intimate lens, I photograph my mother in her element: in moments of vulnerability, and in her church garments where she lays the foundation of faith and respect for the household. My camera also captures my nieces and nephews as they learn from her, listening to stories of how she was raised by her own grandparents.
Weaving contemporary documentary photography with found family archives, the project also confronts a painful void. While paging through our family album, I uncovered the history of my uncle, Jabulani Mazibuko, who went into exile in Zambia between 1989 -1990 to escape the apartheid regime. Though freedom was near and Nelson Mandela was about to be released, Jabulani never witnessed that liberation; he has been missing for over 36 years, his whereabouts still unknown. He missed his sister’s wedding, and the passing of his own father.
Ultimately, the family photo album serves as both the foundation of this project and a blueprint for the future. By documenting the generation Thulisile is raising today, I am building an archive for tomorrow, with the hope that one of her grandchildren will carry this legacy forward.
Image Gallery
