Wow! You are extraordinary @bokani
Please support this folks!
Izipho Art as gift. Community as archive.
Ten years since her first solo exhibition in London, Bokani returns not with a sale, but with a radical gesture of generosity: the gifting of more than 150 artworks created over the past decade.
Izipho, meaning both “gifts” and “talents” in isiNdebele is more than an exhibition. It is a meditation on value beyond transaction, a prayer in colour and form and an act of radical generosity at a time when the world feels fractured. Each painting is a revelation, a trace of freedom, an offering of what it means to live, create and give from abundance.
Born in her studio and carried forward through a profound dialogue with Ingrid Asoni, Izipho now expands into a wider platform through the support of Asoni Haus, whose curatorial vision is rooted in creativity as a conduit for impact and change. Together with ST.ART Gallery, founded by Charlie Pannell, a home for bold and socially engaged artistic practices, this project finds its fitting stage in the heart of London.
Visitors are invited to witness the works, immerse in their presence and contemplate the message they carry. The artworks themselves will be gifted to Bokani’s community, friends, collaborators, mentors and those who have crossed her path over the years. What remains for all is the experience: a call to generosity, connection and collective consciousness.
Exhibition details 📍 ST.ART Gallery, 36 Eastcastle St, London W1W 8DP 🗓 Saturday 13 – Sunday 14 September 2025, 11am–5pm RSVP: /izipho
Bokani — Asoni Haus — ST.ART Gallery —
Photo credit : Nishant Shukla
‘As above, so below’ has been acquired by the National Gallery of Zimbabwe for the permanent collection in Bulawayo. I am deeply honoured and especially thankful to the director, curator and the whole team
‘As Above So Below’, is a large icansi adorned with symbols like gold stars, thorns, shells, and bones, each element rich in meaning. Stars celebrate mothers as faith’s custodians, while gold represents the soul’s eternal nature. The arrangement mirrored guidance from ancestors and nature’s resilience, with bones and shells nodding to traditional healing practices. While the use of thorns hints at natures self-preservation, they also symbolise the way spiritual vision is revealed and hidden by the ancestors according to worth. The geometry of this species of thorn resembles the shards of light thrown off by stars.
As above so below, 2023
206 x 542 x 72cm
Icansi (Reed mat), plant fibers, animal bones, oil paints, spray paints, thorns
Also this song🥹 a ancient Zulu praise song for kings and queens, co-opted into Christianity really captures this multiplicity of spiritual experience, the timelessness and AMDG I want to bring into the work
Huge congratulations to my friend, artist @sobayoabolorea on his latest exhibition, ‘Reflections’ which uses helmets as a metaphor for the complex realities of migration.
Ore
Abolore Sobayo
2025
Acrylic on Canvas
Ore - meaning "gift" in the Yoruba culture- reflects on friendship and community as precious sources of belonging, especially for migrants rebuilding their lives in new environments. This work evokes the emotional journey from familiar roots to unfamiliar grounds, where connections struggle and strive to be recreated. Through this process of reaching out, forming relationships, and finding support, Ore celebrates resilience, hope, and the enduring gift of human connection.
What a wonderful surprise to find a painting of me in my studio uniform, I’m so honoured that my migrant story is told in this way🥹😭🥹and the reference to one of my paintings in the visor👌🏾
Go see it, at the Royal Engineers Museum, in Kent until the 22nd March.
THE VISITATION, MIXED MEDIA, 2025
These stained glass paintings explore Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth, drawing from the first chapter of Luke. In this encounter, Elizabeth—elderly and pregnant with John the Baptist—embodies the assurance that “with God nothing shall be impossible.” Mary’s ensuing song reveals a God whose power first stirs within the imagination, who hears the call of the afflicted and enters into co-creation to renew the world.
Her proclamation resounds as a vision of justice and divine reversal, an upturning of power in favour of the humble. With her, we too might say, “my spirit rejoices in God.”
At St James Piccadilly until January 2026 @ayla.lepine@stjpiccadilly
I was briefly in Bulawayo for Gogo’s memorial and to replace Baba’s grave stone which had been stolen.
Gogo’s sister sat in mass, (slide 2)which was held in the garden and perfumed by the smell of mopane bark (slide1) as the food was being prepared.
I had a chance to see my painting (3) installed in the Archdiocese of Matebeleland hall and reflect on how much of our culture is preserved in that church. Fr Batsirai holds an eland horn (4) used as a trumpet for centuries, standing in the oldest Basilica in southern Africa which also houses one of my small paintings.
One of my Aunt’s friends grew carrots especially for the memorial and taught me about me a profound lesson about friendship, who shows up for you and how.
I relaxed for 3.5minutes in a gorgeous garden and thought about Zimbabwe’s gap between the comfortable and the desperate (in some ways there isn’t one, everyone works 2 jobs and a side hustle and doesn’t get to spend time with the grandkids)
I went to a brilliant talk at the Bulawayo gallery, caught up with artist/curator friends by chance!
Went to Plumtree (11) took this picture which was reflected on the window of the minibus, this kid witty 3year old had us all laughing.
Resumed my role as Minister of Enjoyment with my sister cousins.
Had stillness and family chats, went to a three hour long mass and somehow had to get on flight again. It was all too brief and always breaks my heart a little bit to leave this place where beauty sneaks up on you.
I Z I P H O by BOKANI
Art as a gift.
Community as archive.
This collection features works from the last decade of Bokani’s experimental practice, where she pushes the boundaries of materials and methods. For her, innovation is a spiritual act, born from a profound sense of connection with God, the universe, and the histories that shape us.
The artist in her words:
“Izipho — meaning “gifts” and “talents” — is an offering, a spilling out, an experiment in living as if abundance and generosity were our shared inheritance. Painting, for me, has always been ecstatic — a prayer, a portal, a revelation of what it feels like to be free.
These works have come through me more than from me; they are not possessions but transmissions. Art is consummated by the viewer. New possibilities exist because of the interaction between artwork and audience — in this case, you.
What happens when art is freed from transaction? When ownership is replaced by trust, and community itself becomes the archive? This act of gifting is both risk and blessing, vulnerability and celebration. It refuses scarcity and gestures toward another world already flickering into being — one shaped by generosity, friendship, and shared imagination.
These artworks are now under your sovereignty; they are part of your legacy. Cherish them, pass them on. And remember: art has use. Let these pieces serve you and give you what you need. They are given with real freedom. In receiving, you join an important lineage of care and custodianship.
I trust in us.
I trust you.”
#izipho #gift #artist #london #exhibition #bokani
Izipho Art as gift. Community as archive.
Ten years since her first solo exhibition in London, Bokani returns not with a sale, but with a radical gesture of generosity: the gifting of more than 150 artworks created over the past decade.
Izipho, meaning both “gifts” and “talents” in isiNdebele is more than an exhibition. It is a meditation on value beyond transaction, a prayer in colour and form and an act of radical generosity at a time when the world feels fractured. Each painting is a revelation, a trace of freedom, an offering of what it means to live, create and give from abundance.
Born in her studio and carried forward through a profound dialogue with Ingrid Asoni, Izipho now expands into a wider platform through the support of Asoni Haus, whose curatorial vision is rooted in creativity as a conduit for impact and change. Together with ST.ART Gallery, founded by Charlie Pannell, a home for bold and socially engaged artistic practices, this project finds its fitting stage in the heart of London.
Visitors are invited to witness the works, immerse in their presence and contemplate the message they carry. The artworks themselves will be gifted to Bokani’s community, friends, collaborators, mentors and those who have crossed her path over the years. What remains for all is the experience: a call to generosity, connection and collective consciousness.
Exhibition details 📍 ST.ART Gallery, 36 Eastcastle St, London W1W 8DP 🗓 Saturday 13 – Sunday 14 September 2025, 11am–5pm RSVP: /izipho
Bokani — Asoni Haus — ST.ART Gallery —
Photo credit : Nishant Shukla
