PUBLIC ART | Esther Mahlangu

4 Oct 2024-28 Sep 2025

Overview

Serpentine unveils a new site-specific mural by artist Esther Mahlangu. On view in the garden at Serpentine North from 4th October 2024 to 28th September 2025, the monumental painting will celebrate concepts of community and unity. Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu, which translates directly from Ndebele as ‘I am because you are’, will mark her first public artwork in the UK.

Celebrated for her brightly coloured geometric paintings rooted in matrilineal Ndebele culture, Dr Esther Mahlangu (b. 1935, South Africa) has been creating large-scale and site-specific works for over eight decades. She began painting at the age of ten, learning the traditional Ndebele techniques and visual language of covering houses in bold patterns from her mother and grandmother.

This mural is part of Serpentine’s Public Art programme, which this year features outdoor sculptures installed throughout Kensington Gardens: Gerhard Richter’s STRIP-TOWER, 2023 (until 20 October 2024) and Yayoi Kusama’s Pumpkin, 2024 (until 4 November).