Imbeleko

Imbeleko, a formidable new solo of sculptural forms by Zizipho Poswa, will open at Southern Guild Cape Town on 12 February 2026. Marking her fifth solo exhibition, the show reasserts Poswa’s stature as one of the continent’s most compelling voices working in clay. Poswa was recently included in Southern Guild’s debut presentation at Art Basel Miami Beach 2025, named in ‘The 10 Best Booths at Art Basel Miami Beach 2025’ by Artsy.


In this new series, Poswa offers a meditation on all that motherhood carries; a consideration of its power as an inherited gift. She articulates this through the subjectivity of her isiXhosa ancestral lineage, a complex and
embodied characteristic of her evolving practice.


Rather than offering a simplified translation of the title for the new body of work – Imbeleko – it is more important to understand how and why Poswa makes uses of the term to enfold the layers of social connectedness it holds for amaXhosa. The works offer an expression of the artist’s affirmation of motherhood as a welcomed act of “carrying” in communion with the matrilineal.

The artist returns to her mastery of clay to shape rotund sculptures that project a sturdy tenderness, while introducing abstracted moments that protrude outward like an extension of “the body that carries.” Conceptually, the works signal to the bodily act of mothering, as well as the shared role of motherhood in community.


Poswa shares: “We can’t have a new generation without women who carry, for those who came before and those who will come after.” She grounds Imbeleko in the generous ethos of homage that has always informed
her approach.


Text: Thato Mogotsi


The full press release will be available in January 2026. For more information, please contact Southern Guild's communications department: [email protected]