Tshepiso Moropa, a Johannesburg-based visual artist and archivist, is redefining the intersection of art and identity through a diverse array of mediums, including illustration, collage, painting, photography, and film. Her unique artistic journey has been marked by a deep passion for the medium and an unwavering commitment to storytelling through the art of collage. Her hand-crafted collages marry a multitude of archival imagery and materials to create visual dialogues exploring the past and present tense of black people, the African diaspora and historical archives. Her artwork also blends various elements of motion graphics and animation.
Through her work, Tshepiso strives to breathe new life into forgotten narratives and to create a visual symphony that resonates with the depths of human experience. Her work intricately weaves together themes of identity, family relations, violence, race, gender, love, sexuality, solitude, and the quest for belonging, creating a poignant dialogue between past and present.
Moropa’s artistic practice is deeply rooted in the exploration of self and the archival retrieval of African women’s images. Her work often draws from self-portraits or archived photographs sourced from library resources and internet research sites. These images serve as a profound connection to the past, offering a lens into the lives of those who came before. By translating African folkloric tales from Setswana into short animations, Moropa reconstructs and reanimates these stories, fostering a bridge between contemporary South Africans and their ancestral heritage.
Central to Moropa’s approach is her belief in art as a means of resurrecting and reinterpreting forgotten histories. She describes her work as an excavation of cultural memory, where archived images act as proxies for deeper reflections on cultural heritage and the present. This process involves not merely showcasing historical photographs but actively reimagining and revitalizing them, breathing new life into figures from the past.
In her collages, Moropa celebrates blackness, heritage, and culture with a profound sense of pride and identity. Her artwork serves as a powerful affirmation of self-worth and cultural belonging, emphasizing that true belonging is found within oneself rather than in external validation. Moropa’s collages are a celebration of black identity and cultural richness, reflecting a deep-seated commitment to honoring and preserving African cultural narratives.
Moropa’s work is not just about visual aesthetics; it is a vibrant dialogue with history, memory, and identity. By merging archival images with contemporary artistic practices, she offers a dynamic perspective on the connections between South Africa’s past and present. Her art becomes a space where forgotten ancestors are brought back to life, allowing their stories and identities to resonate with current and future generations.
Through her innovative approach and unwavering dedication, Tshepiso Moropa continues to contribute significantly to the discourse on cultural heritage, identity, and belonging. Her work stands as a testament to the power of art to reconnect us with our roots and redefine our place within a broader historical and cultural context.
““My work primarily explores the themes of identity, family relations, violence, race, gender, love and sexuality, solitude and the sense of belonging to name a few. The subject matter is either a self-portrait of myself or an archived image taken of African women that I found from either library resources or from the respective research sites found on the internet. For this reason, I explore the connection between ourselves and our forgotten ancestors. These images were taken many many years ago but I am trying to bring the figures in the photographs back to life. The archive becomes an important site of excavation and of recreation. I use the archived image as a proxy for memory, particularly memory relating to cultural heritage and the present time. My collages are about celebrating blackness, being black, being proud of ourselves and our heritage and culture. It is not about finding a sense of belonging within others. It is about finding a sense of belonging within ourselves.””
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