Journey through Bantu Cosmology
Atang Tshikare is a visionary African artist and cultural custodian, the force behind Atang Kulture — a movement reclaiming and affirming Bantu indigenous knowledge, cosmologies, and aesthetics. Guided by a poetic, ceremonial, and grounded vision, he creates collaborative, limited-edition works that are not artifacts, but living legacies.
Inspired by Bantu oral traditions, ancestral wisdom, and African cosmology, Atang’s practice blends storytelling, ritual, and contemporary design. His artworks invite participation in ancestral memory, community gatherings, and cultural conversation, turning spaces into ceremonies and objects into bridges. Through pop-up installations and workshops, he shares not just art, but experiences that connect people to belonging, beauty, and becoming.
Beyond his own creations, Atang Tshikare nurtures a global conversation around African indigenous knowledge, collaborating with master artisans, thinkers, and storytellers. Each project is a journey through Bantu cosmology and becomes a circle of exchange — where clay, soil, wood, and metal carry the wisdom of generations, and every mark, form, and texture tells a story. In his practice, art is not just seen or held; it is experienced, remembered, and returned to the community, reaffirming that African heritage is alive, evolving, and eternally present.
A Bantu Cosmology APPROACH TO DESIGN
Drawing on a deep connection to his own Tswana and other Southern African cultures, Atang’s work includes sculptures, patterns, and illustrations. Atang Tshikare’s design style manifests in limited-edition, co-created works that embody knowledge, story, and belonging. Each object is signed, numbered, and carries a narrative, transforming everyday materials—clay, soil, wood, grass, and metal—into vessels of cultural memory. Through his artistic practice, Atang invites viewers on a profound journey through Bantu cosmology, revealing ancestral wisdom, spiritual connections, and the layered traditions that have shaped Southern African identity. His pieces act as bridges between past and present, fostering understanding, reflection, and reverence for cultural heritage.
Awards
Atang is a recipient of the Future Found award by Southern Guild Design Foundation in 2014 and the Top 200 Young South Africans in 2015. He was a judge for the Dezeen Awards and Elle Decór Solve Competition as well as a nominator for the British Design Museum Beazley Awards. He was invited to be a mentor for the Design Indaba (Emerging Creatives) and the UCT Graduate School of Business BAA programme. Atang has also given talks about his artistic and independent entrepreneurial practice at the Afro-Pop Festival in Amsterdam, the University of Johannesburg in association with the Arts and Culture Department, Inscape Design School and Nandos “Bright Young Things”, among others.