Before screens and smartphones, there was dust, laughter and imagination. In A Re Tshamekeng, artist Loretta Mekgwe turns childhood play into a striking visual archive of memory, culture and the quiet magic of growing up
GOSEGO MOTSUMI
Some memories don’t live in photo albums. They live in the rhythm of a game, the scratch of a stick on the ground, or the quiet imagination of a child inventing worlds.
That’s the spirit behind A Re Tshamekeng, a nostalgic art series by artist Loretta Mekgwe that transforms childhood play into minimalist digital drawings. Using restrained black-and-white line work, Mekgwe captures fleeting moments of African communal life — children crouched over games, afternoons of laughter, and the small rituals that quietly shape identity.
The drawings are simple, almost whisper-like. But inside them lives a whole universe of memory.
PLAY, OBSERVE, REMEMBER
For Mekgwe, the inspiration isn’t theoretical. It’s personal.
Growing up, she remembers the games — koi, skontibolo, and the timeless choreography of children negotiating teams and rules on dusty playgrounds. But she also remembers something else: being the quiet observer.
“At school I was usually the reserve, sitting on the floor waiting to be picked by a team,” she told Time Out.
Often left out of the action, she found her own way into the moment — sketching figures in the soil while others played.
Those small acts of observation became the emotional blueprint for A Re Tshamekeng.
She recalls building imaginary worlds with wire cars and even playing games like diketo alone, inventing rhythms where none existed.
PRESERVING THE GAMES WE ALMOST FORGOT
In an age where childhood increasingly unfolds through screens, Mekgwe believes these everyday rituals deserve preservation.
Many traditional games were never formally documented, yet they taught generations of children cooperation, patience, imagination and improvisation.
Through art, she believes those memories can be saved before they quietly fade.
She said, “Artists have the ability to pause time and record these cultural memories before they fade.”
A DIGITAL PLAYGROUND OF MEMORY
Presented as a digital exhibition across online platforms including The Art Lab and the artist’s social media pages, the series features seven drawings, each capturing a different moment of play.
Minimal lines. Maximum memory.
The works are available as limited edition prints in A3 and larger formats, allowing collectors to bring a piece of shared childhood into their own spaces. For enquiries or orders, people can contact the artist on +267 76027544 or email artlabgc@gmail.com.
Because sometimes the simplest drawings carry the deepest stories and sometimes, the games we played become the stories we tell.