Khehla Chepape Makgato

In his multidicipoinary practice as artist, writer, curator and theater producer Khehla Chepape Makgato explores memory, identity and socio-political history, with a particular focus on the legacies of colonialism and apartheid. Working across drawing, printmaking, painting, collage and installation, he combines archival materials, found imagery, text and personal recollection to question dominant historical narratives and bring overlooked voices into view.
Alongside his artistic practice, Makgato has a longstanding commitment to arts education and community work. He founded Samanthole Institute of Creative Arts (SICA) in 2010, which supports arts and literacy programmes for young people, particularly in rural communities in Limpopo, and established the Khehla Chepape Makgato Youth Libraries in 2016 to advocate for literacy development in rural areas of Limpopo province.
As an Artist Fellow at LIAS, Makgato brings together artistic research, archival inquiry and lived experience. His current watercolour work revisits childhood memories and personal archives, using collage, portraiture and earlier prints as tools for exploring how individual and collective memories are constructed, transmitted and reimagined. His practice connects artistic experimentation with critical questions of history, identity, memory and social transformation.

Reconfiguring the Collection: European and African Artists in Dialogue

Reconfiguration, Recalibration and Redress emerges from a critical re-engagement with the historical foundations of the William Humphreys Art Gallery collection. Originally conceived as Reconfiguration of WHAG’s Founding Collection, the exhibition has evolved into a more expansive and reflexive curatorial proposition that not only rehangs the collection but interrogates its epistemological and ideological underpinnings. By bringing works out of storage into renewed visibility, the exhibition performs both an institutional and symbolic act of awakening.
At its core, the exhibition is structured around contrast, juxtaposition, and dialogic encounter. It stages conversations across temporalities, geographies, and aesthetic traditions, positioning European canonical works alongside African artistic practices to reveal both tension and resonance. These curated vicinities invite viewers to reconsider how meaning is constructed, contested, and re-authored within the museum space.
Working remotely from Lüneburg, I will consolidate existing digital records, verify provenance, produce enriched artist biographies, and develop interpretive texts that situate the collection within South African and global art historical frameworks. The expected outcomes include a polished digital catalogue, a print edition, and a curatorial framework to guide future acquisitions and exhibitions. By producing a high-quality, research-driven catalogue, the project will enhance public engagement, expand academic access to WHAG’s permanent collection, and establish sustainable workflows for collection management, cementing WHAG’s position as a leading cultural institution in South Africa and beyond.

PhD University of South Africa (Unisa) (completing)
2022 MA Fine Art, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, SA
2014 Dipl. Media Practice majoring in Journalism, Boston Media House, Sandton Campus, Johannesburg, SA
2012 Dipl. equivalence Fine Arts majoring in Printmaking, Artist Proof Studio, Johannesburg, SA
2011 Professional Fine Art in Printmaking Certificate, Artist Proof Studio, Johannesburg,  SA

Chief Curator at William Humphreys Art Gallery, Kimberley
Founder and Director of Samanthole Institute of Creative Arts
Chief Patron of Khehla Chepape Makgato Youth and Children’s Libraries 

Chairperson of South African Museums Association - Central Region (2025), Research Fellow At Sol Plaatje University (2024) Sunday World Unsung Hero (2022); Goethe-Institute & Mail & Guardian Sustainability and Arts Prize Winner (2022); Mail & Guardian Top 200 Young South Africans (2021, Arts, Media, Entertainment & Film); Zygote Press International Artist Residency, USA (2018) ImpACT Award Winner for Visual Arts (2016); Mapungubwe Visual Artist of the Year (2016); Artist Across Oceans Residency (Kohl Children’s Museum, Chicago & Play Africa, SA, 2016); African Art Trust Residency (2014); Africa Utopia Youth Delegate, Southbank Centre, UK (2012)