Tech Pro opens her art exhibition
- Wits University
Wits ICT staff Mihle Sopam steps out from behind the console and into the spotlight with her first public offering - Rebirth of Africa.
Mihle Sopam is a familiar figure at the Braamfontein campus, often seen moving between lecture venues with cables and cameras in tow, ensuring that classes and webinars run seamlessly. But beyond the tech is a multidisciplinary creative whose work bridges spirituality, history and technology.
Tonight, Sopam - an Audio Visual Support Consultant at Wits ICT, opens her pop-up exhibition, Rebirth of Africa, at the Origins Centre. The immersive audiovisual exhibition is housed in the Spirit World room and unfolds as an augmented reality (AR) experience. Set in the year 2136, it imagines a future where Earth has become a technological wasteland. Within this landscape, a technological deity named KunTalu awakens, visible through AR, in a digital realm that becomes a liminal spiritual space.
Currently completing her Master’s degree in Digital Arts at Wits, Sopam says her interests have been shaped by her grandmother, who shared ancestral encounters and taught her to recognise divine intervention. Those early conversations sparked curiosity about African spirituality and collective identity leading to her interest in African art.
For Sopam, Rebirth of Africa is also about reclaiming narrative power. She speaks about the gaps in African art archives and the psychological impact of colonialism in stripping Africans of pride and imagination.
“Unfortunately, much of African Art isn't archived or has been misrepresented due to colonial influences. Art makes up much of a community's identity because it reveals their beliefs, practices, and ways of living. This "gap" in the archive, I believe, is one of the reasons why younger Africans do not know much about themselves and their ancestors' histories.”
Supported by a community
As she prepares for her first exhibition, Sopam is filled with excitement and gratitude. She credits Dr Tammy Hodgskiss Reynard, Curator and Acting Head: Origins Centre, advocating for her to exhibit at the Centre. She also acknowledges the support of her academic community, including her Master’s supervisor Tiisetso Dladla, who encouraged her during a challenging period, and Dr Yolo Koba, former Head of Department at Film & Television Studies, who provided opportunities when was facing financial hardship in third year after her mom lost her job and returned to the Eastern Cape.
She hopes her first public offering will draw scholars, artists and those curious about the intersection of art and technology. Ultimately, Rebirth of Africa is about community - past, present and future - and about extending the table built by those who came before her.
The exhibition runs from 27 February to 14 March at the Origins Centre.
Visit her website: Yes, Mihle Writes – Yarn ball of words unsaid, regurgitated.