Gallery MOMO brings together brotherhood, Blackness and belief

From 16 November 2026 to 14 February 2027, Gallery MOMO will present a group gallery exhibition by Fhatuwani Mukheli, Justice Mukheli and Sthu Manaka, who will exhibit My Loves Summer together for the first time. 

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A relationship rooted in a friendship and a shared life

The trio are connected through My Loves Studio and have formed a creative relationship rooted in friendship and a shared life. The exhibition will thus bring together three distinct bodies of work that are shaped by questions around identity, faith, memory, tenderness, and the ways people find meaning in one another.

The exhibition, named after the brightest and warmest season in South Africa, goes far beyond a simple season but rather explores the concept of love as a way of looking. Thus, through the distinctly different eyes of each artist, audiences can explore the concept of love through the looking glass of each of the three artists.

Fhatuwani Mukheli looks to art history and the representation of Black life. Justice Mukheli looks to water, spirituality and the uneasy relationship between ancestral practice and Christianity. Sthu Manaka presents looks to faith, vulnerability and the unseen forms of care that sustain people.

With these lenses, each artist shares their own perspectives of the concept of love.

Fhatuwani Mukheli and Blackness

For Fhatuwani, the act of love through looking is concerned with the dignity and presence of Black figures.

His paintings cast Black people in a dignified light. He draws inspiration from the scale and visual language of Renaissance composition, a genre of art in which they have historically been marginal or absent. The artist then rebelliously positions these Black figures resting, gathering and occupying space with ease.

Intentionally, he depicts them being, not asking. In his words, he says that this is how they deserve to be depicted.

“Black people deserve peace, relaxation, opulence, royalty and joy,” says Fhatuwani. “I want audiences to leave feeling that this is not an exception but something we were always owed.”

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Justice Mukheli and the conflict of belief

Justice, on the other hand, makes his figures explore the unsettled space between belief systems.

Through photography and his series I Heard There Are Rivers in the Sky, he brings together new works made in Lagos and earlier photographs made in South Africa. He uses water as a bridge for two spiritual worlds: in ubungoma, a place of encounter with ancestors, and in Christianity, an element associated with baptism, cleansing, and renewal.

With this series, Justice simply explores the significance of both concepts and places no importance on one above the other.

Sthu Manaka explores vulnerability

Manaka’s new body of work titled Lost Boy explores vulnerability and the possibility of being supported at moments when certainty is difficult to find, and marks a shift from the eye imagery associated with his earlier work.

“This body of work is the in-between of life,” says Manaka. “When you are having the time of your life, you do not see the hand that protects you. When you are crying and feeling down, you do not see the hands that shelter you. This work is a reminder that we are not alone.”

He showcases a relatable theme of sometimes getting lost in the moment rather than being grounded in it.

This exhibition is sure to showcase beautiful talent and visual works that will leave the audience reflecting on the intricate aspects of love, Blackness, faith and vulnerability.

Featured image: Supplied

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