In this week’s episode, we travel to Johannesburg to speak with Lekgetho Makola, a visual storyteller, cultural strategist, and arts executive whose work spans decades and continents. From his early days sculpting clay animals in rural Limpopo to curating critical archives at Robben Island and studying under film legends at Howard University, Lekgetho shares how his journey has been shaped by care, community, and a radical commitment to dignified representation. Now chief operating officer of the Market Theatre Foundation, he reflects on the transformative power of photography infused with love as a tool not only for documenting truth but for reclaiming identity and rehumanizing Black life. The conversation explores what it means to make—not take—images, the tension between capitalism and care, and the promise of building artistic ecosystems rooted in joy, collaboration, and cultural memory.

Jump To:

02:09 - “Disorganized lions won’t catch even a limping buffalo.” Lekgetho’s invocation highlighting the power of community and collective action.

05:15 - Lekgetho’s journey into the arts, with a little help from an attentive headmaster and exposure to animation on TV early in his childhood.

10:00 - The role of the arts, politics, political organization and even sport, in building a space for him to gently “let down” his father by choosing to pursue arts over studying economics.

14:50 - The Howard University experience, Lekgetho chooses to attend graduate school at the premier HBCU in the US and continues to be inspired by its pan-Africanist teaches

23:30 - References in Black imagery in the US, and West Africa and their influence on archiving the photos at Robben Island Museum, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned.

25:35 - Visual literacy, the transformation of South Africa and the power of the image to de-humanize Africans as part of the “Colonial excursion”

33:30 - On utilizing the care found in traditional African storytelling to put dignity back into the modern legacy of Black and African storytelling.

46:20 - Youth and the impact of African music and urbanism on the future of visual storytelling.

54:00 - South Africa’s current challenges and the importance of care and integrity.