Lebo Masiteng

My practice encompasses research, making, and cultural consulting, with the term Litemana, meaning "verses" in Sesotho, reflecting the diverse methods and materials I explore. I approach dwelling as an embodied experience rather than a mere structure, emphasising that to dwell means to be present, engaged, and connected. The way I see it, the body serves as the first form of architecture, embodying rhythm, gesture, and memory.

Through making garments, vessels and architectural forms, I investigate how shelter, containment, and care emerge from this embodied experience. My focus is on the women, or boNkgono, who preserve and transmit dwelling practices and indigenous knowledge across generations. Their crafts, ways of holding and transmitting memory, and spatial knowledge challenge conventional notions of knowing.

At the heart of my work lies a central question: How does the body need to be held to live? This inquiry informs my collaborations across fashion, architecture, art, and culture, where I aim to develop frameworks that emerge from lived experience, sensitivity to ongoing history and heritage, and relational intelligence.