A traditional Basotho hut has risen in the heart of London, bringing the culture, spirituality and communal traditions of Lesotho into one of the city’s contemporary art spaces.
British soul-reggae artist Natty, who is of Basotho descent and spent much of his childhood in Lesotho, has unveiled MOKHORO: The Ascension Experience, an immersive exhibition that transforms Kunstraum gallery in EC1 into a place of reflection, music and cultural exchange.
Running from 24 July to 2 August, the installation is inspired by Natty’s fourth studio album, The Divine Trinity, and centres on a hand-built mokhoro, the traditional Basotho hut that has long served as a place of gathering and community across Lesotho’s mountain villages.
For Natty, the structure represents far more than architecture.
“Mokhoro for me is community,” he told SAT Travel ahead of the exhibition opening. “It is a place where we can gather physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally. It is a place where we can learn and teach, all within the spirit of what we call Ubuntu.”
Inside the installation, visitors experience meditative sound compositions accompanied by cymatic water projections created by artist Kabir La Amlak. The visual works reveal how sound vibrations move through water, transforming invisible frequencies into constantly shifting patterns. The wider exhibition also features artwork by Natty’s long-time creative collaborator Nick90.
The exhibition reflects the journey of an artist whose life has been shaped by three places: London, Lesotho and Jamaica.
After emerging from London’s open mic scene more than two decades ago, Natty achieved mainstream success with his debut album Man Like I, which reached number 21 on the UK Albums Chart. At the height of his career, however, he stepped away from the music industry to build a self-sufficient life on a solar-powered farm in rural Jamaica, where he now lives with his wife and seven children.
“The biggest word I would say is freedom. Freedom of thought,” he said. “But with freedom comes great responsibility, and sometimes hardship, because we are out in the hills. You need to know plumbing; you need to know electrical. Self sustainability is not easy. So, the growth in me has been astronomical.”
Despite living in Jamaica, Natty says the cultural links between the Caribbean island and Lesotho remain central to his identity.
“The thing that unifies my experience of Lesotho and Jamaica is that rebel spirit, but with love. I find it in Rastafarian people, and I find it in Basotho people.”
That connection is reflected throughout MOKHORO, where music rooted in Nyabinghi drumming and chanting, an important tradition within Rastafari culture, is presented as a tool for grounding, healing and spiritual reflection.
Natty believes the accompanying water projections reinforce that message by making sound visible.
“We are all made up of vibrations, so one could argue that we are all made up of sound and water,” he said. “Knowing that we are nearly eighty per cent water, seeing what the sound is doing to the water is seeing something of what is happening within ourselves.”
Beyond its artistic ambition, the exhibition also explores questions of identity and the way Africa is increasingly understood around the world.
“A long time ago the word African was a blanket for everything, whereas now there are so many different voices that the terminology, for me, is kind of dead,” Natty said. “Now everyone is proud to be exactly where they are from, and I love that.”
The ten day programme extends beyond the installation itself, featuring artist talks, a Nyabinghi inspired herbal teahouse and dedicated sessions designed for disabled, neurodivergent and young audiences.
Rather than prescribing what visitors should take away, Natty hopes the experience creates space for personal reflection.
“I never hope people learn anything. I just put things out, and if they learn, great, and if they do not, maybe they reflect back on it in ten years and learn something then. The journey starts within.”
Through MOKHORO, Natty has created more than an exhibition. He has transported a piece of Basotho heritage into the centre of London, inviting audiences to experience culture not as a static display, but as a living space where music, memory, community and identity come together.
