Asanda Kupa
South Africa (b.1981)
Kupa’s work is intended to show curiosity in the experiences formed by communities presenting themselves as crowds. Born in Molteno – a semi-rural village in South Africa in the province of Eastern Cape – Kupa’s scenes depict the chaos and energy of order in disorder of life for many of South Africa’s majority, the black population, whom part of, a life that is defined by struggle and by lack of access to basic resources and information.
Kupa is concerned on how the livelihood of these people consists of struggle and sabotage – whilst also celebrating the self-determining spirit that marks a long history of civic action endurance and perseverance, spurred by grassroots community frustration and drive. This as a central theme of his work. His series of striking crowd scenes, inspired by the Marikana mineworker massacre of 2012, shows militant action not only as an expression of fury, but also a place of refuge and hope in post apartheid South Africa.
Raw, incisive and urgent, Kupa’s work captures an important period in South Africa’s political history and wellbeing and reconciliation as he reflects on the breadth
and depth of economies of hope, hopelessness and popular protest and regular school.
Kupa lives and works in Johannesburg He frequently returns to his childhood home. He holds an NDip in Fine Art from Walter Sisulu University, Between 2009 and 2011, he resurrected the Molteno Museum. He was the recipient of both the Ann Bryant Young Artist of the Year award (2010), and the Cassirer Welz Arward (2013). He was also awarded the Eastern Cape Provincial Cultural Award for Visual Art 2018
His work sits in a number of important collections, including The Southern African Foundation for Contemporary Art, The South African Art Bank, Commercial collection, like Spier Art Collection and private collections
