Introduction

The Afrikaans word “pophuis” refers to a dollhouse game familiar to children. Vuyo Mabheka builds the Popihuise series based on this game, using cutouts from rare childhood photos of himself. He creates interiors and scenes where 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 fantasised and faceless father figure.

The series features a few core elements: drawings, collages, and photographs, coexist in a seemingly naïve and tender universe. Shiny cars, skyscrapers, burning tires, and new pavilions contrast with cultivated fields, colourful birds, graffiti, and blossoming trees.

Among these images, which highlight the tension between liberalism and modernity, stands a child almost helpless in the face of his harsh reality: Vuyo Mabheka, who is rewriting his memories and reclaiming his own world.

Popihuise is Vuyo Mabheka’s first book.

Biography

Vuyo Mabheka was born in 1999 in the rural town of Libode in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Today Vuyo Mabheka lives in Thokoza, Johannesburg.
In 2017, he discovered photography through the Of Soul and Joy project – a creative platform that aims to provide the township’s youth and its surroundings with professional skills in the field of photography.
Vuyo Mabheka is the recipient of the 2023/2024 Images Vevey Special Jury Prize, and Popihuise series is exhibited at the Biennale Images Vevey 2024.
Mabheka is represented by Afronova Gallery, Johannesburg.

Specifications

Photographs: Vuyo Mabheka
Concept, editing and sequencing: Cécile Poimboeuf-Koizumi
Design: Cécile Poimboeuf-Koizumi, in collaboration with Perrine Serre
56 pages
20,3 x 27,5 cm
French / English
Publication date: November 2024
ISBN: 979-10-96383-46-7

In the Press