As South Africa marks 150 years since the birth of Sol Plaatje, Fumani Maluleke the Limpopo-born artist brings history, family and the struggle for human dignity into focus through ten portraits painted on traditional African grass mats.

As South Africa prepares to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje, contemporary visual artist Fumani Maluleke is bringing the influential writer’s life and legacy into a contemporary artistic conversation. Through a collection of ten original
artworks created in collaboration with the Sol Plaatje Educational Trust, Maluleke explores the connections between history, identity, family and the continuing pursuit of human dignity.

Titled Sol Plaatje at 150: A Living Legacy for South Africa and the World, the exhibition will be presented at the Sol Plaatje Library at Sol Plaatje University in Kimberley from 5 to 10 October 2026, forming part of a wider week-long programme of commemorative, educational and cultural activities.

The anniversary programme, announced by the Sol Plaatje Educational Trust, runs from 4 to 10 October and brings together academic, cultural, community and human-rights institutions to reflect on Plaatje’s contribution and the relevance of his ideas today.

For Maluleke, the exhibition is an artistic tribute to a prominent historical figure. It is a meeting between personal heritage and collective memory, expressed through a medium that has become central to his practice, the traditional woven African grass mat. 

The catalogue describes the grass mats used in the collection as scorched, a treatment that adds another layer to the works’ material language. Fire, in this context, can be read as an artistic reference to histories shaped by conflict, hardship and transformation, although the interpretation remains open to the viewer.

Born in 1876, Sol Plaatje was a journalist, writer, linguist, translator and political thinker whose work documented the experiences of African people under discriminatory laws and advocated for dignity, equality and political rights. His writing and public life remain significant to
discussions around land, language, education, citizenship and African intellectual traditions.
The anniversary programme is intended to move beyond historical remembrance, encouraging audiences to consider how Plaatje’s ideas continue to speak to contemporary South Africa and the wider world.

This perspective is reflected in Maluleke’s collection, which approaches Plaatje not only as a public intellectual and advocate, but also as a person shaped by family, relationships and the circumstances of his time.

The ten works include portraits of Plaatje, his father Johannes Kushumane Plaatje and his wife, Elizabeth Lilith M’belle. Other artworks draw on episodes and details from his life, including his writing, journalism, travels and efforts to challenge discriminatory legislation.

The exhibition forms part of a broader anniversary programme organised by the Sol Plaatje Educational Trust in partnership with Sol Plaatje University and the South African Human Rights
Commission. The programme, taking place in Kimberley from 4 to 10 October, includes lectures on heritage, culture and linguistics, a commemorative procession, a gala dinner and an annual lecture by Justice Dikgang Moseneke.

The collection will be on view at the Sol Plaatje Library, Sol Plaatje University, Kimberley, from 5 to 10 October 2026. Presented as part of Sol Plaatje at 150: A Living Legacy for South Africa and the World, it brings together art and remembrance in a shared space where the past can be
encountered, questioned and carried forward.