Biography
Malebogo Molokoane was born on 22 September 1990 in Rustenburg, North-West. On graduating from Grenville High and later graduating from the Impala Platinum Sports Academy, she worked as a mechanical assistant for four years. She then moved to Woodstock, Cape Town, and studied fine arts at the Ruth Prowse School of Art. Though educated in top tier environments, she continued to enrol at the Tshwane University of Technology and obtained her Postgraduate Diploma in Fine and Applied Art. She is currently studying for her master’s degree, specialising in glass, and is employed as a part-time lecturer in the glass studio. Molokoane is a visual artist who uses her practice to explore the concealed faces and uses them to convey her message, yet again depicting skin layers similarly to geographical layers in the soil to peel away the layers to discover an old and a new start. The meaning to her work shares physical and emotional aspects and engages in intimate conversations whereby human emotions are expressed, to help portray everyone’s story. Since her time as a student, she has built up a diverse portfolio of drawings, paintings and prints but mainly glass work, which attest to an admiration of many.
Molokoane is the Absa L’Atelier 2022 Gerard Sekoto winner, awarded as the most promising South African artist for continual growth in her work. The award is hosted by Absa in partnership with the South African National Association for the Visual Arts (SANAVA), as well as the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS). As part of her prize in 2023, she was awarded a three-month residency in Paris, at the Cité Internationale des Arts. She will have a travelling exhibition throughout South Africa that will first open at the Absa Gallery in 2024. She is the first South African glass artist to ever come to Paris. This award is seen as an important recognition of glass art as a significant form in South African contemporary art practice. She met the Bonne Espérance Gallery owner, Scott Billy, and attended openings there as well as at 31 Project, and visited a glass art exhibition and stained-glass workshop in Paris. In addition, she has been invited to work with Dr Zanele Muholi, who introduced her to his team as her mentor, and has found an arts residency venue not far from Paris. During her residency in Paris, Malebogo was selected as South Africa’s star guest artist at UNESCO’s Africa Week 2023 and she was able to make her new creation in an unexpected collaboration with flamework glass blower Guillaume Thoraval, and filmmaker and photographer JBach. The artwork was exhibited at the African Week and showcased in Sine Ste Sis, a mapping show performed by JBach himself. Molokoane recently attended a programme at Pilchuck Glass School in Seattle, USA, whereby she worked alongside great instructors who participated in a reality glass show on Netflix, called Blown Away. She made great connections that will be helpful to the Southern African glass society, as already invitations have been sent to most international glass artists to participate in the Glass Safari South Africa in 2024. In September 2023, she collaborated with Ngwenya Glass from Eswatini to blow her designer glass artwork that will be showcased at her solo exhibition in 2024.
Molokoane participated in the 2021 Blow Your Sculpture African Glass Art, 2021 featured artist for Mathews + Associates Architects Saadjie, Top 100 Sasol New Signature and a participant artist in Phase III Winter online exhibition called Imitation of Life for Lizamore & Associates. In 2022, she participated in a glass group exhibition, Next Generation, supported by Southern African Glass in celebration of International Glass Year.
In 2023, she participated in Session 5: The mental class participant at the Pilchuck Glass School in Seattle, USA, participated in Sculptx 2023, the sixth edition of the largest annual sculpture fair in South Africa and lastly had her first solo exhibition at the Absa Art Gallery.
