Sartorial & artistic collisions of seismic proportions unfolded this past First Thursday, 6th October – at none other than the fastly-iconic Exchange Building. THEFOURTH Gallery, vanguards of experimental art and design in the city and country at large, co-curated alongside Morné Visagie and Lukhanyo Mdingi himself, The Provenance Part 1: an exhibition centred around Lukhanyo’s eponymous label & its originating vision. One of the first times I met Maybe Corpaci, co-founder of THEFOURTH, she echoed her dream to see the space play host to a showcase on fashion – now, a little over two years later, Cape Town welcomes a new landscape of possibility in how we understand, study, view and appreciate fashion beyond the scope of runways. It had to be THEFOURTH to do it – and Lukhanyo, too. Graciously offered the space by Lemkus, the Exchange Building owners, The Provenance is a love-letter from Lukhanyo and his team – to his collaborators and community. The opening night consecrated the space with the love that is so woven into every aspect of Lukhanyo’s vision.
The floor-plan of the 4th floor gives way to the various thematic enclaves of the show – a multi-medium collation of the varying threads comprising Lukhanyo Mdingi; the label, and the human being. With photography by Luke Houba, a longstanding collaborator of the label, and footage from the label’s journey to Burkina Faso – the rails of calico mock-ups, and Lukhanyo’s handwritten journals with very precise instructions for his creative partner, Alex Zono – The Provenance acted as a meeting point for everyone for whom the label has meant something profound. When Lukhanyo became the recipient of the Karl Lagerfeld LVMH prize in 2021, it affirmed something many of us knew; the label is an intensely important feature of luxury South African design. Furthermore, the final collection is not always truly indicative of the deeply nuanced process undertaken to arrive – and because we couldn’t all gather in the fervour of the label’s studio in Long St, the ingenious idea to bring it forth into an exhibition format offered, too, an opportune moment for celebration. We have much to celebrate.
The Provenance is a must see for anyone interested in the ever-manifesting narratives of healing occuring in African design; to see the praxis upon which a label such as Lukhanyo Mdingi rests. Having written some of the show’s text, I leave you with the description I worded for the show’s newspaper zine – “In conceptualising Provenance, it became unequivocally clear that there is only one place we could begin – or rather, who we would begin with. The absolute bedrock upon which Lukhanyo Mdingi has been built is among the hands; the human beings who, through the sharing of their expertise, craft and spirit, has informed the label’s intense dedication to harnessing the consciousness of human ingenuity. Clothing is a medium, and the brand itself is a vehicle; and for Lukhanyo Mdingi himself, understanding the depth of this truth has allowed the label to manifest as a collective, intrinsically community-informed vessel in which to contain its essence. This essence, referred to as the label’s cosmology, is a social, cultural and artistic revelation that continues to etch its story through each collection; and each collection is the final emblem of a vision shared and worked on together with those within his team, and his collaborators reaching from Southern Africa – up to West Africa, and around the world.”
Visit The Provenance : Part 1 at:
THEFOURTH Gallery, 4th Floor, 28 St Georges Mall, Cape Town
Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays between 10am and 5pm
Stay tuned for information on walkabouts through the show via @___thefourth___
