Pitsho Mafolo
Tradition vs modernity
In this series of painting Mafolo is depicting the conflict between tradition and modernity in the fast-changing modern world where every person faces contradiction between his traditional culture and modernisation. He reminds us that modern thoughts, life style, working culture, clothing etc. are all part of modernisation. The modernisation has led to more rational thought, better government functioning, better worldly life, better efficiency but it has also had some negative impacts on modernisation such as pollution, unhealthy living styles and vulgarity.
On the other hand, most traditions have moral and ethical messages embedded within them and these serve as guidelines as to how people should govern themselves and therefore gain a degree of control over their lives. They provide a lot of social organisation in a way to govern themselves in a world where moral standards are now often being compromised and play also has an important role in keeping people rooted in their own self-identity. However, retaining a sense of tradition may also lead to segregation and divide people especially in a multi-racial and multi-religious actual society.