People

Bulumko Mbete, born in 1995 on a serendipitous Saturday, is a creative practitioner with multicultural heritage. She is based in liminal spaces. Mbete completed her BFA at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town. She undertakes research in different forms of craft and design making. These methodologies are predominantly performed by women in Southern Africa. Bulumko is interested in materiality. By using textile, beading, natural dyeing and weaving; she creates a framework to communicate generational traditions and gestures of love.

Mbete’s interests expand into ways of engaging with the archive and using the archive for creative storytelling. In this pursuit, she uses archival matter such as photographs, textiles, and clothes. She explores the geographic connections and synchronicities within her family in relation to South African history; and its effect on migration, labour, farming and love. She is the 2023 recipient of the Cassirer Welz Award and residency at the Bag Factory. Bulumko will be studying towards her MFA at Carnegie Mellon University, USA.