Created By
Fumani Maluleke
Acrylic on reed mat
Curator
Luke Chapman
Maluleke compels the viewer to attend to the ordinary as a powerful site of drama and meaning. In this piece, patterns become witness to small-scale economies—a visual ethnography of sustenance, agency, and improvisation. "Grocery I" gently draws forth the poetry in practical acts, positioning the mat as both record keeper and everyday altar.
By reframing the everyday marketplace, "Grocery I" bridges the worlds of economic exchange and familial ritual. The artwork’s layered construction references the ebb and flow of township markets, where survival strategies and social ties are tightly interwoven. The density of the weave alludes to the sheer volume of stories traded with every purchase: trust, gossip, memory, bartered alongside food and goods. Maluleke imbues the mat with vibrant rhythm, echoing the flux of people, produce, and lives in motion.
Created By
Fumani Maluleke
178 x 187 cm | 70 x 74 in
Framed and mounted
2025
