In the Studio with Thero Makepe

In the studio with...

Thero Makepe © Maurine Tric / Adagp Paris, 2023

Thero Makepe is an artist and photographer born and raised in Gaborone, Botswana, working between Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Gaborone. His photography practice is informed by past, and present narratives related to my upbringing and lived experiences in Botswana and South Africa.

As laureate of the 2023 MEP - Maison Européenne de la Photographie x Gervanne + Matthias Leridon collection x Cité internationale des arts residency programme, what has been the most significant aspect of this residency for you?

Thanks to this residency, I have had the opportunity to live and work in a place overseas for the first time in my career. Paris has so many great resources available to an artist, and I would say I have enjoyed that the most – access to libraries, galleries, collections, and museums. I think it will take time for all the new knowledge, references, and insight I have gathered here to truly soak into, but I’m looking forward to seeing how it will transform my artistic practice in the future.

Thero Makepe © Maurine Tric / Adagp Paris, 2023

During your residency, which audiences were you able to meet and how did this enrich your practice?

Firstly, I met a lot of artists, curators, and gallerists. I was only particularly aware of a few French or France-based artists before coming here, so getting acquainted with such a variety of art was a great experience, and it has broadened my scope as an artist as well.

I also met young Parisians or people who had just moved to Paris but were from one of France’s overseas territories like Martinique and Guyana. It was great to meet them and compare and contrast our lives and upbringings, and how a person’s geography shapes a person’s personality, as those are things I’m particularly interested in in my work.

Thero Makepe © Maurine Tric / Adagp Paris, 2023

What project(s) were you able to develop during your residency at the Cité internationale des arts? Can you tell us a little bit about your future projects?

I started a new body of work titled The Powers that Be, where my interest lies in different systems of power that govern and control people in different parts of the world. So I was able to start producing work here. It was challenging at times, as this was my first ever residency. In parallel to my work, I was learning how to navigate the space and culture here, and there was a language barrier that I struggled with at times. But it was still essential to experience these challenges.

Secondly, before I arrived at the Cité internationale des arts, I had finished a photobook I am trying to publish. Being able to meet photography critics and publishers here was great in providing me with useful critiques. As well as having access to the library at Maison Européenne de la Photographie and seeing photobooks I had always wanted to see in person, as well as many others that I was previously unaware of. I’m now considering a different way of structuring my book and will still be looking forward to publishing it.