For visual artist Kutlwano Monyai, grief is not something to be hidden away. Instead, it becomes the starting point for healing, hope and ultimately joy.
The Johannesburg-based artist has unveiled her debut solo exhibition, Dakalo: The Ultimate Gift, at Gallery MOMO after winning the prestigious 2024 Absa L’Atelier Art Award. Presented in partnership with Absa and the South African National Association for the Visual Arts (SANAVA), the exhibition marks a significant milestone in the career of one of South Africa’s most exciting emerging contemporary artists.
The collection explores the emotional journey between loss, healing and resilience through striking sculptural works created from polyethylene, concrete, wood and crocheted materials.
Dakalo, a Tshivenda word meaning ‘joy’ or ‘happiness’, serves as the exhibition’s central theme. Rather than portraying joy as the absence of hardship, Monyai presents it as something that can emerge through pain, remembrance and community.
‘It is great to see people relate to the work’
Speaking at the opening of the exhibition, Monyai said she was encouraged to see visitors finding personal meaning in her work.
“It is great to see people relate to the work,” she said.
She explained that the exhibition is rooted in experiences of grief, healing and joy, inspired by the idea of home and the communities that shape people’s lives.
“What is at the heart of this work are the experiences of grief and healing and joy and what that looks like from a point of home in our communities,” she said.
Through fragmented structures and reconstructed domestic materials, Monyai reflects on how families and communities inherit trauma while finding ways to rebuild and reconnect across generations.
Rethinking grief
Senior Art and Museum Curator at Absa Group, Dr Paul Bayliss, believes the exhibition encourages audiences to rethink grief as more than loss.
“Monyai’s work courageously examines the coexistence of grief and joy, demonstrating that healing is rarely linear,” he said.
He praised the artist for transforming everyday materials into powerful sculptural narratives that explore memory, community and interconnectedness.
“Through Dakalo, Kutlwano demonstrates that joy is often discovered not in the absence of suffering and pain but through our capacity to rebuild, reconnect and imagine new possibilities together through an experience we all can recognise.”
‘Meaningful opportunities for artistic growth’
Bayliss also highlighted the importance of the Absa L’Atelier Art programme, saying it continues to provide emerging artists with meaningful opportunities for artistic growth, professional development and international exposure.
“Kutlwano’s debut solo exhibition as an Absa L’Atelier Art Ambassador is a powerful example of how the initiative supports bold, intellectually rigorous and socially relevant artists who contribute meaningfully to South Africa’s contemporary art landscape,” he said.
Born in 1996, Monyai is an artist, scholar and independent curator based in Johannesburg. She recently completed a postgraduate diploma in Fine and Applied Arts at Tshwane University of Technology and has exhibited at the Pretoria Art Museum, Bag Factory Artists’ Studios, Turbine Art Fair and Modern Arts Projects South Africa.
Her selection as one of the 2024 Absa L’Atelier Art Ambassadors further cemented her reputation as a rising voice in contemporary South African art.
- Kutlwano Monyai, a Johannesburg-based artist, debuted her solo exhibition "Dakalo: The Ultimate Gift" after winning the 2024 Absa L’Atelier Art Award.
- The exhibition uses sculptural works from polyethylene, concrete, wood, and crocheted materials to explore themes of grief, healing, resilience, and joy.
- "Dakalo," meaning joy in Tshivenda, portrays joy as emerging through pain, remembrance, and community rather than the absence of hardship.
- Absa Group curator Dr. Paul Bayliss praised the exhibition for its powerful narrative on grief, healing, and interconnectedness, highlighting the importance of the Absa L’Atelier programme for emerging artists.
- Monyai, born in 1996, is an established emerging artist and scholar with a strong presence in South Africa’s contemporary art scene, now recognized as a 2024 Absa L’Atelier Art Ambassador.
