Bulawayo emerging artist: Langelihle Buhle

In April, I had a chance to chat to another young creative in Bulawayo who is pushing boundaries with her latest project. Langelihle Buhle is multidisciplinary artist who works and lives in Bulawayo, a proud emerging female artist from Nketa “elokishini”. She is a fashion designer, author, and with regards to her Visual arts practice, she started drawing at the age of six by copying her friend who introduced and encouraged her to draw until she developed love for drawing on her own with little mentorship. At the age of 14, she explored various materials by working with veteran printmaker Dumisani Ndlovu a resident artist at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe In Bulawayo, who introduced her to painting and mentored her for a while. Having been told how confused of an artist she was by doing multiple art practices and not being able to abandon any of them, she needed to find a way to make it work by linking her visual art and other art genres. Eventually, she found comfort and strength working on fabric as a material inspiring and enriching her practice. She has been using acrylics over the years and she is now experimenting with different styles and techniques like oils. Buhle uses a wide range of fabric materials to make outfits, however including Ankara, animal skin, mainly fabric that is hard and does not easily absorb liquid. She gets inspiration from the sun which is a representative of her name Langelihle (Beautiful sun) the different shades of the sun help bring out the light and warmth in her work. On 26 April 2023, Langelihle Bhule an architect by profession launched a project called "Ignite the Light in you", a creative journey that included the launch of her new book, "A Resolute Dynamite", her latest paintings, and a fashion show. She mesmerised a well-attended event supported by the Alliance Francaises of Bulawayo. She finds happiness in gifting her artworks to various people that support her work. She is a curious lady who invests in seeking knowledge and learning new things and growing into them. Very much addicted to multi-tasking I look forward to discovering the inner talent in her work. Cliford Zulu is an independent Curator working in Bulawayo