Untitled

This body of work explores my cultural identity as a young Venda man who grew up in a rural environment dominated by Tsonga people. Growing up in a space where Venda culture was overshadowed, I became aware of the labels that arise from tribal differences. Njiya Vavhexa was one of them, a Tsonga term meaning "grasshopper". It was sometimes used to describe Venda people in a mocking or derogatory way.

 I have chosen to reclaim Njiya Vavhexa and use it as a symbol of pride and empowerment. It represents my journey of self-acceptance and cultural affirmation. I now identify with the figure of the grasshopper, which was once used to diminish and transform it into something that empowers me as a young Venda man who is proud of his culture.

As a multidisciplinary artist, the grasshopper also became a metaphor for the fragile nature of identity in a divided society. These mediums allow me to express the pain of exclusion, the vulnerability of migration between cultural spaces, from one tribe to another in our country, which can be the birth of tribalism.