Helen Sebidi

Born in Marapyane near Hammanskraal in the Northern Transvaal area (Gauteng and Limpopo today), she grew up with her grandmother who was a traditional wall and floor painter. She taught Sebidi the importance of channeling spirit into the world through hard work, a commitment to herself and her community, but, most significantly, through creativity – whether it be cooking, weaving, beading, drawing, painting and so on. Consequently, from a young child, Sebidi developed a lasting love for creative pursuits, particularly drawing and painting and the designs of traditional arts and craft. As a young adult Sebidi worked as a domestic worker, but soon discovered she had a talent for painting. Her employer had taken up painting, and after Sebidi expressed an interest in it, she received her first set of oil paints. She then sought out formal lessons and ended up being taught and mentored by John Keonakeefe Mohl in the early 1970s. Sebidi returned to Marapyane in 1975 to look after her grandmother who later passed in 1981. It was around this time she trained at the Katlehong Arts Centre to improve her clay, moulding and sculpture techniques. Mmakgabo Mapula Helen Sebidi resides in Parktown, Johannesburg, where she works in her studio and, in her spare time, continues to teach and inspire. Sebidi’s practice is dedicated to mythologies, ancestry and traditional value systems