Leonardo Sitoe's 'Dreamscapes In Transit' Explores Dreams as Archives of Migration and Memory

Johannesburg-based artist Leonardo Sitoe presents 'Dreamscapes In Transit', a solo exhibition developed through the Bag Factory's Young/Unframed 2026 programme. The show transforms his recurring dreams—shaped by daily commutes across the city—into an immersive Afro-surreal landscape of paintings, drawings, and sculptures using reclaimed wood and found materials. Curated by Muyon Mafulu, the exhibition at the King Kong warehouse in Troyeville ran from 18 June to 9 July 2026. Sitoe discusses how dreams preserve fears, desires, and histories beyond conscious memory, and how Afro-surrealism allows him to address inherited trauma and displacement. He views dreaming as both survival and resistance, refusing to accept imposed realities as permanent. His sculptures, emerging from termite-damaged timber, blur boundaries between human and nonhuman, challenging fixed identities. The work dissolves the personal and collective, inviting viewers to recognize shared histories within Johannesburg's spatial divisions rooted in apartheid's Group Areas Act. Sitoe plans to expand installations into immersive dream environments, exploring oral histories and diasporic memory across Southern Africa.