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Artist thrives on diversity

Phillip Matlhoko from Northern Cape at the Youth Arts Exhibition held at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg. Pic. Antonio Muchave. 21/07/2007. © Sowetan.
Phillip Matlhoko from Northern Cape at the Youth Arts Exhibition held at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg. Pic. Antonio Muchave. 21/07/2007. © Sowetan.

Namhla Tshisela

Namhla Tshisela

It is a year since Philip Matlhoko returned from Ethiopia and he says he remembers the time he spent there with fondness.

"I felt so at home there because the locals thought I was one of them," said the 30-year-old artist, pictured, from Kimberley, Northern Cape.

Matlhoko and eight other artists held an exhibition of their unique works of art at the Sandton Convention Centre last Friday.

Each artist represented one of South Africa's nine provinces.

The artist were trained in Ethiopia last year by renowned artist and teacher Captain Lemma Guya as part of the National Heritage Council's (NHC's) Young Heritage Art Initiative, and they learnt the unique method of painting on animal skin.

NHC chief executive Sonwabile Mancotywa said the skills gained by the nine artists would be nurtured so that they could sustain themselves through their art.

The other eight artists are: Maropeng Letsatsi of Gauteng; Zilindile Mbangi, Eastern Cape; Godfrey Kennedy, Limpopo; Dathini Mzayiya, Western Cape; Bafana Kambula, Free State; Pule Langeman, North West; Ivan Mosupe, Mpumalanga; and Mbuso Hadebe of KwaZulu-Natal.

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