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The Afrikaans word “pophuis” refers to a dollhouse game familiar to children. Vuyo Mabheka builds the Popihuise series around this game, using cutouts from rare photographs of himself. He creates interiors and scenes in which he appears, sometimes accompanied by imaginary friends—represented by people from his community whom he has secretly photographed—and sometimes in the presence of a fantasized, faceless father figure.
The series features a few basic elements: drawings, collages, and photographs, which coexist in a seemingly naive and tender world. Shiny cars, skyscrapers, burning tires, and new houses contrast with cultivated fields, colorful birds, graffiti, and blossoming trees.
Among these images, which highlight the tension between liberalism and modernity, is a child who seems almost powerless in the face of his harsh reality: Vuyo Mabheka, who rewrites his memories and reclaims his world.
Popihuise is Vuyo Mabheka's first book.
Common Thing, 2024
56 pages
20 × 27.5 cm
ISBN 9791096383467
The Afrikaans word “pophuis” refers to a dollhouse game familiar to children. Vuyo Mabheka builds the Popihuise series around this game, using cutouts from rare photographs of himself. He creates interiors and scenes in which he appears, sometimes accompanied by imaginary friends—represented by people from his community whom he has secretly photographed—and sometimes in the presence of a fantasized, faceless father figure.
The series features a few basic elements: drawings, collages, and photographs, which coexist in a seemingly naive and tender world. Shiny cars, skyscrapers, burning tires, and new houses contrast with cultivated fields, colorful birds, graffiti, and blossoming trees.
Among these images, which highlight the tension between liberalism and modernity, is a child who seems almost powerless in the face of his harsh reality: Vuyo Mabheka, who rewrites his memories and reclaims his world.
Popihuise is Vuyo Mabheka's first book.
Common Thing, 2024
56 pages
20 × 27.5 cm
ISBN 9791096383467
