Reflecting on Lunga Ntila’s Legacy

Today, we remember Lunga Ntila, a self-taught artist whose compositions, many of them self-portraits, touched on themes of identity, displacement, fragmentation and memory. Ntila was an exceptional contemporary artist, whose meditations evolved in imagination and presentation with each body of work, exploring the inner world of ‘self’ through displacement and distortion.

Born in 1995 in Johannesburg, Ntila grew up between South Africa, Germany, Benin and the Netherlands, and her work continues to delight globally. She was an artist whose work focused on the awareness of one’s identity to understand ideologies that govern the different facets that exist within and around us. Her debut solo premiered at BKhz Gallery in 2019, and her first book, Ukuzilanda, was released in 2020.

Lunga has left an eternal impact on South African art as a pioneer of contemplative discovery, and more importantly, as a gem of a human. We are nothing but grateful to bear witness to your artistry in this lifetime. May she rest in everlasting peace.

I have made myself a vessel for higher powers to work through me. I have opened up my heart.”