Pippa Hetherington

Cuttings 1820 - 2020

‘Cuttings 1820 - 2020’ explores themes of family, cultural memory, displacement, and loss, examining the challenges of disentangling our shared histories. It interweaves textiles, clothing, and photographic portraiture to forge new identities and configurations. The exhibition, a collaboration with the Keiskamma Art Project, focuses on the relationship between female descendants of the Eastern Cape Xhosa nation and the 1820 British Settlers in South Africa. It features dressmaking, embroidery, assemblage, video, and photography, highlighting often-neglected strong female identities in historical narratives. The sensuous fabrics create a tapestry of new relationships, connecting us to both what we have lost and what can be newly created, binding us to the past, present, and unfolding future of our country.

Words by Pippa Hetherington

About Pippa Hetherington

Pippa Hetherington (1971, South Africa) is a visual artist specializing in lens-based and documentary work. Over the past two decades, her practice has explored themes of post-colonial identity, fragmented histories, trauma, and memory. Using photography, textiles, and rock pigment, she delves into stories of loss, grief, and remembrance. Her work excavates collective and personal memory, addressing the often-buried or erased aspects of history. By amplifying overlooked details, she reveals what is deemed invisible, serving as a metaphor for these hidden elements. Hetherington earned a Master of Fine Arts with distinction from ICP-Bard, New York, in 2019 and was shortlisted for the Contemporary African Photography Prize in 2021 and 2022. She has exhibited in numerous solo and group shows both nationally and internationally, and her work is represented in collections and institutions in South Africa and beyond.