Ekunye : A collective journey
Schedule
Sat Aug 30 2025 at 02:00 pm to 05:00 pm
UTC+02:00Location
Ellis House | Johannesburg, GT
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Ekunye: A Collective JourneyStudio Exhibition at Ellis House Art Building, New Doornfontein
Hosted by Senzeni Marasela Studio
Opening 30 August 2025, 2pm
"Ekunye" – meaning “a collective journey” – is a studio exhibition and artist-led initiative hosted by renowned visual artist Senzeni Marasela at her studio in the Ellis House Art Building. The project is a highly intentional invitation to emerging Black women artists based in Johannesburg. At its core, Ekunye is about fostering communal systems of care and support for Black women artists.
The first iteration of Ekunye brings Yonela Makhoba, Heidi Sincuba, Rethabile Padi, Nomvula Hoko, and Nqobile Mbatha with Marasela. Collectively, they explore the possibilities presented by collaboration, dialogue, and mutual support towards creating a wellbeing ecosystem.
Ekunye follows up on Marasela's ongoing work with the Ellis House Artists collective and Ellis House gallery. Through these initiatives, explorations around artist-led projects and exhibitions are realised on an ongoing basis. As she opens her studio to others, Marasela now focuses the conversation on Black Women artists.
Emphasising collective growth over competition, Ekunye critically asks:
How can studio spaces exist as sites of production as well as dialogue, mentorship, and incubation?
What does it look like to collectively reimagine support independent of institutional structures?
How can Black women artists create and perpetuate sustainable creative ecosystems while carving out meaningful careers?
Through shared space and intentional community-building; Ekunye is an alternative, living arts infrastructure. It holds space for artists as well as writers, thinkers, and cultural workers to engage critically and tenderly with the work being produced.
Ekunye is the beginning of an enduring collective journeying; a radical act of creation, resistance, and support.
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Where is it happening?
Ellis House, Voorhout St,Johannesburg, South AfricaEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
