Collection: Zwelinjani Rabede

Zwelinjani Radebe was born in Durban 1984. He grew up in Ulundi situated in the north of KwaZulu-Natal and later moved to KwaMashu Township outside Durban. Zwelinjani recalls that he has always been interested in art. At the age of 5 years his parents bought him his first set of crayons and sketchbook and he has never lost interest in art ever since. When he completed high school, he enrolled for the Velobala Saturday Art classes, an art centre outreach programme which for talented young artists. He further enrolled for a Fine Art Degree at the Durban University of Technology and completed his Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts in 2017. In his own words, he states the following:

I’m interested in painting, sculpture and drawing. I enjoy working with oil and acrylic paint as well as creating sculptures, as this is where my passion lies. His works also comments on socio-economic issues and historical issues that South Africa is facing today.

His work questions the inequality, unemployment, violence and poverty in South Africa. My work also comments on socio-economic issues and historical issues that South Africa is facing today and also narrates human experience and life conditions experienced by people in my surroundings. In his work Rabede reproduces familiar visual signs and rearranges them into a new conceptual visual language which inform his subject matter about people’s daily experiences.