‘Breeding Ground’ marks the artist’s first institutional solo show in South Africa at Norval Foundation, curated by Anelisa Mangcu
Installation view of ‘Breeding Ground’. Courtesy of the Norval Foundation.
For over two decades, Billie Zangewa has stitched together moments of intimacy, care and resilience. With ‘Breeding Ground’, now on view at Norval Foundation in Cape Town, the Malawian-born, Johannesburg-based artist returns with her most expansive presentation to date—marking her first institutional solo exhibition in South Africa.
Curated by Anelisa Mangcu, the exhibition explores themes of motherhood, identity, urban life, and transformation. Zangewa’s signature silk collages—a practice she began developing in the late 1990s—speak to the quiet yet radical act of care for one’s self, one’s family, and one’s environment. Her depictions of daily life in Johannesburg, often infused with autobiographical elements, elevate the domestic sphere to a site of power and beauty.
“I was drawn to the idea of nurturing—not only in the context of motherhood but also how we nurture communities, creativity and our inner selves,” says Zangewa in an earlier interview. This ethos is woven into each hand-cut and layered fragment of silk, a medium that embodies both vulnerability and strength. In Free Spirit (2020), a woman stands tall against a swirling backdrop—confident, grounded, and free. In other works, the viewer glimpses solitary rituals or shared routines that speak volumes about care, survival, and tenderness.
Mangcu, a Cape Town-based curator and gallerist, brings a thoughtful lens to the exhibition, aligning Zangewa’s deeply personal practice with broader conversations around decolonisation, feminism and self-representation. “Her work sits at the intersection of the intimate and the political,” Mangcu notes. “It’s about seeing Black women in their fullness—soft, strong, ordinary, extraordinary.”
The city of Johannesburg, where Zangewa has lived and worked since 1997, becomes both muse and backdrop. She draws from the energy of its taxis, its shifting light, and its architectural layers—capturing the textured rhythm of life in one of Africa’s most complex urban centres. In doing so, she pays homage not only to her surroundings but to the cultural and historical lineages that inform her process.
Running through 11 September 2025, ‘Breeding Ground’ is a celebration of growth in all its forms—personal, creative and communal. It’s a timely and necessary reminder that even in the quietest corners of our lives, there is power, poetry and resistance.
The exhibition opened on the 18th of February, 2025. For more information, please visit the Norval Foundation.
