Thami Kiti

From the Against the Grain catalogue:

"Thami Kiti's works draw directly on his Xhosa culture, in particular, [the] frequently revisited theme of sacrifice that is associated with most significant ceremonies that mark rites of passage, such as initiation, birth, marriage and death. His strong interest in three-dimensional form and narrative is best seen in references to the [hybrid] female forms that he calls "goat women"... Kiti's "goat women" capture a transformative, liminal moment [that] is accentuated through the representation of movement...The [inclusion] of hybrid figures in Cries of Crossroads introduces the use of animal as metaphor for the human condition, whereas the dramatic interplay between goat and woman in several works [symbolizes] the interdependence between human and animal beings. In Kiti's animal sculptures this inter-relationship is more ambiguously handled..."

- Mario Pissarra.

2025: ‘Terrain’, EBONY/CURATED, Franschhoek, South Africa
2025: Chapter One: Vernacular Materiality, A group exhibition at PSM, Berlin, Germany
2024: ‘Fallow Ground’, curated by RESERVOIR, in collaboration with PSM Gallery, Spaced Out, Gut Kerkow, Uckermark, Germany
2024: ‘Vital Signs’, curated by Fritha Langerman and Svea Josephy, Michaelis Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2024: ‘iSenzo Sak’dala, indlela ibuzwa kwaba ohambili’, RESERVOIR in collaboration with FEDE, Cape Town, South Africa
2023: ‘Seeds of the Fig’, curated by RESERVOIR in collaboration with Whatiftheworld for Krone, Twee Jonge Gezellen Farm, Tulbach, South Africa
2021: ‘my whole body changed into something else’, curated by Sisipho Ngodwana and Sinazo Chiya, Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa
2017: ‘Dream now, dream not’, The Cape Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2017: Innibos Laeveld Nasionale Kunstefees craft competition, Mbombela.
2013-14: Against the Grain, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town; Sanlam art Gallery, Cape Town.
2005: Encompass, Cape Gallery, Cape Town.
2001: Homecoming, Gug’Sthebe, Langa, Cape Town.
1997: Shadows of Robben Island, Robben Island, Cape Town.
1995: Thami Kiti, Wanini Hill Group Show, Irma Stern Museum, Cape Town.
1994: The Loft, Cape Town.
1994: Idasa Gallery, Cape Town.
1994: Wood panels, Association for Visual Arts Gallery, Cape Town.
1992: Made in Wood: work from the Western Cape, South African National Gallery, Cape Town.
1991: Sculptors of the Western Cape (organized by Andrew Steyn and Mario Sickle), Stellenbosch; Centre for African Studies, University of Cape Town.
1990: Ricky Dyaloyi, Billy Mandindi, Wanini Hill, Thami Kiti Group Show, Joseph Stone, Athlone, Cape Town.
1990: Vuyisane Mgijima, Timothy Mafenuka and Xolile Mtakatya, Thami Kiti Group Show, Cape of Good Hope Castle, Cape Town (with ).
c. 1986 – 1993: Annual Exhibitions, Community Arts Project, Cape Town.

Robben Island Collection, South Africa
William Humphreys Art Gallery, South Africa
University of the Western Cape (Community Arts Project Collection).
Private collections in South Africa, United States and Europe, notably the Ronnie Levitan Estate, Cape Town.

https://issuu.com/stevensonctandjhb/docs/my_whole_body_catalogue_issuu

2013: Mario Pissarra, Against the Grain, Africa South Arts Initiative (ASAI), Cape Town

2017: First prize, Innibos Laeveld Nasionale Kunstefees craft competition, Mbombela, South Africa.

2008 - 2011: Assistant puppet maker, Handspring Puppet Company.
1996: Thapong International Artists Workshop, Gaborone, Botswana.