People

Born in 1995 on a serendipitous Saturday, Bulumko Mbete is a creative practitioner with multicultural heritage. She is based in liminal spaces. Bulumko Mbete undertakes research in different forms of craft and design methodologies which are predominantly performed by women in Southern Africa. Her current research focuses on this form of craft and design as indigenous knowledge systems and archives. Her work is influenced by this mode of storytelling and production. She creates a framework to communicate generational traditions and gestures of love using textile, beading, natural dyeing and weaving. Furthermore she explores the geographic connections and synchronicities of South African history alongside our contemporary realities.

Mbete completed her BFA at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town. She is the 2023 recipient of the ABSA L’Atelier Gerard Sekoto Award, the Cassirer Welz Award, 2023 and is a Creative Knowledge Resources (UCT) Fellow, 2023. Bulumko is a current, third year MFA candidate at Carnegie Mellon University, USA. She is the recipient of the Regina and Marlin Miller Award.