Kelebogile Marope

Kelebogile Marope is an artist born at Ramotswa,Botswana.Marope studied Fine Art at Rhodes University, where she completed a Bachelor of Fine Art and Master of Fine Art. Quotes “I was shocked by the announcement. In fact I did not hear my name when it was announced and only realised what had happened when my dad was jumping up and down in excitement. I was literally shaking when I received the award,” Creating art is a journey - Marope Mmegionline (26 August 2016) “I’m looking at the idea of recreating the domestic space or everyday life, something of the familiar things that we overlook but happens in the domestic space and our everyday life. It started way back in school and I fell for it,” “I would come home for the holiday, and would feel that everything around me was strange. The moment I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth, it felt strange to lean over the basin because my body was accustomed to the basins at the boarding school,” "So after that experience something came to me, and I think that was the journey of realising the other life of objects around, in sculpture. I thought I’ll just draw, but nope, I wanted to understand the life of objects, the things we buy, and the products around us. How do they become familiar to us? And the whole idea of my artistry came from that idea of nostalgia and strangeness,” “By changing from metal and carving it into wood, something weird happens in that process and understand the properties of the object.I want to invite the world into this idea of if we easily ignore the things that are around us on a daily basis, how much do we ignore the important things like the emotions that go in between intimate spaces; the relationship between parents and children.It is more of trying to have a conversation with the viewer,” Marope’s artistry taps into nostalgia, AFRICAPress (26 June 2026) “What you have given to me, you have given me a huge voice. They gave me a voice, and that voice is gonna build companies. That voice is gonna build the infrastructure that Southern Africa needs to be at a point where they can stand on their own,” Botswana’s Kelebogile Marope wins 2026 FNB Art Prize,The Citizen (13 August 2026) Category:Artists from Botswana