If you think art galleries are just quiet rooms with white walls and confusing frames, Gallery MOMO in Joburg is about to change your mind.

Art isn't just paint on canvas; it is a time machine, a family album, and a mystery waiting to be unraveled. Visual artist Lusanda Ndita, winner of the 2024 Absa L'Atelier Gerard Sekoto Award, has turned the gallery into a living, breathing space with his debut solo exhibition, Indlela ibomvu.

Open now until 11 July 2026, this show is the perfect excuse to step into the art world, even if you’ve never set foot in a gallery before. Here is why you should care:

The Story Behind the Art

Ndita doesn’t just capture images; he pieces history back together. A graduate of the Market Photo Workshop, his work mixes photography, printmaking, and collage. He takes fragments - old family photos, fading memories, and spoken stories - and layers them to create something completely new.

His focus? The gaps left behind by absent fathers, and the ways family histories shape who we become.

"I wanted to explore how memory is carried across generations... how stories are preserved, reinterpreted, and passed on, even in the presence of absence." - Lusanda Ndita

From Paris to Joburg

This collection has serious passport stamps. After winning the Gerard Sekoto Award, Ndita spent three months at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris. He used that time to experiment, push his boundaries, and build the exact visual world you can walk through today.

Brought to life by Absa in partnership with SANAVA, IFAS, and Gallery MOMO, this exhibition kicks off Absa’s 2026 Pan-African exhibition series, which spotlights the continent's most exciting creative voices.

Why You Should Go

You don't need a degree in art history to appreciate Indlela ibomvu. You just need to be curious about human connection. Ndita’s layers of collage and photography invite you to look closer, find the hidden details, and think about your own roots.

"Lusanda Ndita transforms intimate family narratives into powerful reflections on collective experience," says Dr Paul Bayliss, Art and Museum Curator at Absa Group. It is personal, it is universal, and it might just change how you view your own family tree.

Plan Your Visit:

●      Where: Gallery MOMO, Johannesburg

●      When: On display right now until 11 July 2026

●      Admission: Open to the public