Mbongeni Buthelezi has developed a wholly distinctive and globally recognised practice: he creates paintings using only repurposed plastic bags, melted and applied to canvas with a heat gun. The resulting works are richly textured, colourful, and formally sophisticated — and deeply embedded in a politics of sustainability, waste, and African urban life. Buthelezi's Ampersand Fellowship in New York brought his work to international attention at a pivotal moment, and he has since exhibited across Africa, Europe, and the Americas.
The Ampersand Fellowship
Since 1997, the Ampersand Foundation has sent more than 300 South African visual artists to a funded residency in Tribeca, New York — connecting them with one of the world's most dynamic art ecosystems.