Javett-UP presents Thero Makepe’s exhibition We Didn't Choose to be Born Here

‘We Didn't Choose to be Born Here’ (2020 - ongoing) is a body of work by Thero Makepe (b. 1996, Botswana) exploring Botswana and South Africa’s socio-political fabric through a personal lens. Through staged portraiture, documentary images, personal and public archival materials and re-enactments, Makepe researches, uncovers and weaves personal family stories with national histories. The exhibition opens to the public on Friday, 15 May 2025.

Born and raised in Gaborone, Botswana, Makepe is a photographer whose practice reflects on personal and societal narratives of his upbringing in Botswana and South Africa. He is a founding member of the Botswana Pavillion, an artist collective dedicated to developing Botswana’s artistic archive. Having completed his Bachelor of Fine Art with distinction at the University of Cape Town, majoring in photography, He currently works between Gaborone, Cape Town and Johannesburg. Public collections featuring his work include the University of Cape Town Works of Art Collection and the University of Pretoria Art Collection.

In 1958, his grandfather, Hippolytus Mothopeng, fled South Africa to escape racist Apartheid law. He went to Botswana, a far more peaceful country under British protection that eventually achieved independence in 1966. He worked as a town clerk in Francistown and Gaborone and as a hobbyist jazz musician.

In contrast, his grandfather’s uncle, Zephaniah Mothopeng, a teacher by profession, became an activist and joined the Pan-African Congress of Azania (PAC), eventually becoming the president of this political party. As a prominent leader of the struggle against Apartheid, Mothopeng served two separate jail sentences on Robben Island, the latter in 1979 for threatening to overthrow the government, for which he was sentenced to 15 years.

The title of the project, “We Didn’t Choose to be Born Here”, is a phrase explored in the minds of different family members during crises, separation, and ennui. Underlying the exhibition project is a photobook, currently in development, that addresses the history of musicality and activism in his family lineage. In this photobook, Makepe also reflect on his own experiences with activism during the #FeesMustFall protests that took place at the University of Cape Town in 2016, fighting for free, decolonized education across all South African universities.

Using various photographic languages, Makepe constructed a non-linear narrative that shows his maternal family’s lasting kindredship despite all the effects of politics, resistance, history, migration, loss and separation they have endured for over half a century. Makepe states, ‘despite all these adversities, I also want the viewer or audience to take away a sense of hope, celebration, and triumphant accomplishment.’

The first iteration of ‘We Didn't Choose to be Born Here’ was shown at Lemkus Gallery, Cape Town in February 2025. This iteration is the artist’s first institutional exhibition. His first monograph, published by the PHMuseum, Italy, will be released in 2026. 

Once opened, the exhibition can be viewed between Tuesday to Saturday and the last Sunday of every month. Open from  10:00am - 16:00pm. The exhibition will run until 2027.

Entrance and Prices R80 for adults | R50 for pensioners & under 18s | FREE for under 6s, registered tertiary students, UP staff, and active ICOM & SAMA members.

We welcome walkins for self-guided tours.

Guided Tours are from R400 and can be arranged 48 hours in advance by e-mailing [email protected]

Images: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14dIFfw9dON4HCZZIOV2ja5feU8IoQD5w?usp=sharing 

Ends  

Issued by the Javett Art Centre at the University of Pretoria (Javett-UP)

For inquiries, please contact

Thakgatso Monisi (Audience Engagement and Communications Coordinator)

E-mail: [email protected]

Phone: 0788233596

www.javettup.com

THERO MAKEPE’S BIOGRAPHY 

Thero Makepe (b. 1996) is an artist born and raised in Gaborone, Botswana.  He currently works between Gaborone, Cape Town and Johannesburg. Makepe completed his Bachelor of Fine Art with distinction at the University of Cape Town, majoring in photography.

His approach to photography employs a variety of photographic styles, including staged portraiture, documentary photography and re-enactments.

In 2023, he was awarded the Foam Talent Award 2024-2025, and in 2024, he received the Prince Claus Seed Award. In 2025, he was selected to be a participant in the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass. Makepe’s work has been exhibited at the Foam Museum in Amsterdam and the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation in Frankfurt. Public collections featuring his work include the University of Cape Town Works of Art Collection and the University of Pretoria Art Collection.

Makepe is a founding member of the Botswana Pavillion, an artist collective dedicated to developing Botswana’s artistic archive. In 2025, Makepe received the PHMuseum, Photobook Award for his ongoing body of the work, ‘We Didn't Chose to be Born Here’.

ABOUT THE JAVETT-UP

The Javett-UP is a space that enhances unique and exceptional transdisciplinary learning through the arts. The centre engages diverse publics in exploring the human condition and reimagining our futures. The Javett-UP is a partnership between the University of Pretoria and the Javett Foundation. Both share a firm belief in the value of the arts for society in general and education. It’s a project that is collegiate as it is philanthropic. With one foot firmly rooted in academia, and the other embedded in the public, Javett-UP aims to make the art of Africa accessible, relevant, and engaging.  It is our commitment to continuous de-colonial dialogues that respond to the present whilst considering the historical and the future implications of our political and social action.