About

Puruma means “roar” in Setswana, the mother tongue of the South African artist Atang Tshikare. In the forest at Wanås, Tshikare has created a fantastical hybrid creature, inspired by South Africa’s national flower, the King Protea, and a lion, placed atop a small pond in the sculpture park.

Tshikare works sculpturally with materials such as bronze, ceramics and wood, and invites the viewer into a tactile and imaginative world. The stories that shape his art often draw from personal dreams and cultural myths, where flora, fauna, and fictional creatures are allowed to coexist.

Puruma is Tshikare’s first public sculpture and marks the artist’s debut exhibition in Sweden. In conjunction with the exhibition, a monographic catalogue on the artist’s practice will be published. The production of Atang Tshikare’s sculpture is supported by the Hjalmar Wicander Foundation and Wanås Konst Patrons Circle.

Curator Milena Høgsberg

Opening: 10 May
The sculpture park

Book a ticket to Wanås Day Party and a seat on one of the chartered buses from Copenhagen or Hässleholm, round trip to Wanås.

BIO

Atang Tshikare (b. 1980, Free State Province, South Africa) is a self-taught, multidisciplinary artist based in Cape Town. Over a twenty-year period, his practice has evolved from street art and drawing to designing limited-edition collectible objects and sculptural furniture. However, he now primarily works as a visual artist, focusing mainly on sculpture, as well as drawing and performance. Atang Tshikare’s works have been widely exhibited both in South Africa and internationally. He has showcased his art at museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (2021) and the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (2019), as well as at art and design fairs like Design Miami/Basel (most recently in 2021), PAD London (2019), Design Discourse in Austria (2016), and Design Days Dubai (2013). Tshikare was selected as a featured designer at 100% Design South Africa (2014) and Design Indaba Emerging Creatives (2012). Most recently, his sculptural works were featured in a solo exhibition at the renowned Everard Read Gallery in Cape Town (2024).