SIBLINGS: A Print Portfolio Exchange Exhibition By The Arts Company Soweto At The IDC Gallery

You walk into a print portfolio exchange exhibition expecting to be impressed by the artists that The Arts Company Soweto and Printing Girls worked on bringing together. I did not expect what happened. I was not only impressed, but I was also heavily triggered by the stories behind the prints that each artist chose to exhibit.

The exhibition opened at the IDC Gallery in Sandton on the 4th of December 2025, a collaboration between 20 artists who each made an artwork inspired by a collective history and a united future. Through the prints, we could see the artists ‘ past, present, and their hopes for their futures. ‘Siblings’ tells the collective story of the relationships that the artists have with all their siblings. It explores the joy and pain of growing up with or without your siblings. The nature vs nurture conundrum. At the exhibition, artists exchanged each other’s work. The act saw each other leave with 20 prints, instantly making them art collectors.

The common denominator in the success or failure of the sibling relationships is the parenting, or lack thereof, provided by the fathers.

In his print titled ‘Relationships’, Thabo Motseki has a main figure in the middle, the figure is his sister from his mother’s side. He has a great relationship with his sister, and she takes more space in the artwork. On the four corners of his print, we see his fingerprint that represents Thabo’s identity; a fingerprint that is unique to him and cannot be replicated. On the next corner is a soccer ball, which represents Thabo’s childhood. And on the bottom right, there is a child in utero. The child represents his father before he was born, and before he (the father) made all the decisions that led to Thabo not having a relationship with his other siblings, who were born to other women who were in romantic relationships with his father. On the bottom left, there is a barcode that serves as an identifier of Thabo’s life. The whole print is a QR code that is a guide to Thabo’s life story.

Thabo has 8 other siblings with whom he has no relationships. This is largely because his father never made an effort to foster a relationship between them. When fathers neglect to provide a space for all their kids to meet and get to know each other, the children never have relationships with each other because they never view each other as siblings. Even for those who know of each other and try to connect later in life, it is often difficult and sometimes downright impossible to have a relationship. Most siblings end up abandoning the need to build a relationship. I am reminded of the futile attempts that my father’s kids and I have had in trying to build meaningful relationships outside of him.

It is never easy to build a relationship outside of a parent because your experiences with that parent are often very different. While some may warmly think of their father, others will not have such warm feelings because they were rejected by their father. He willingly chose to love other children and not others.

Even siblings who share a mother and are raised under one roof don’t get the same mother. They get to experience a mother at different stages in her life, whether financially, mentally, emotionally, or physically. Even siblings who share both parents and are raised in the same house are also raised by parents in different stages of life. The nurturing in those stages can create a disconnect between siblings. While the artists shared their stories, tears threatened to blind me. I don’t remember the last time an art exhibition made me this emotional. I was close to tears the entire night. If anyone had asked me how I was doing, I swear I would have burst into uncontrollable tears right there and then. I had a huge lump in my throat throughout.

In her work, Nomvula Hoko uses an abstract print to tell the story of how she and her brother were separated when their parent divorced. Each parent chose to keep one child while the other parent raised the other. That decision led to the siblings growing up provinces apart, and they naturally disconnected as they had no contact with each other. Years later, when their parents put their differences aside and let the children connect, Nomvula and her young brother had to find their way back to each other. The artist found it difficult to reconnect, but they continue to work on it. Reconnecting is not a single event; it’s a continuous effort from both. But most of the time, as an older sibling, you will have to make more of an effort to put a younger sibling at ease so they know that it is safe to have a relationship with you.

The good news is that not everyone has a bad or no relationship with their siblings. Ntokozo Shabalala is thankful to her father for ensuring that she had an awesome childhood. In her print titled ‘Siyabonga Mshengu’ she thanks her father, who made sure that she and her siblings got to spend so much time together despite having different mothers. She reminisces about road trips, driving through the beautiful Eastern Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal landscapes, listening to their fathers’ favourite CDs. In the ‘Siyabonga Mshengu’ print, there are 4 cows, each representing Ntokozo and her siblings; the cows also represent the important ‘inhlawulo’ custom practiced by the Zulu and other African cultures. A custom that signifies being accepted by your father. Through Ntokozo’s work, we are left with no doubt that her father truly loved her and her siblings. He made sure that they knew and spent time together, thus ensuring that love flows naturally between all of them. In being intentional, their father ensured that the siblings had and continue to have a healthy and loving relationship outside of him.

In ‘Abantwana baka sis Eunice I‘ Molefe Thwala explores how his relationship with his siblings suffered terribly when one of them passed away. The death of one of them destroyed them so much so that they went low contact right after the burial. I suppose they all chose to process grief by putting distance between them. Surprisingly, what brought them back together was when death threatened to take their father. It was at their father’s hospital that they had a proper conversation; each airing out their grievances. In hearing each other out, they were able to start their healing journey together and repair their relationship.

Our chosen family also plays an important role in our lives. In ‘Rooted in my soul’, Cloudia Rivett-Carnac tells of her relationship with her best friend. Even though there was no blood connecting them, they chose to be siblings, loving and supporting each other through life. Since her best friend’s passing, Cloudia continues to hold him dear in her soul. Her work made me really appreciate the chosen family that I have had the luck of meeting throughout the different stages in my life. Most of them remain in my life to this day.

The exhibition is open to the public at the IDC Gallery in Sandton every Monday- Friday. Grab your siblings and friends and go enjoy. It will surely bring up some memories, and it will definitely enlighten you.