Article statement

I am Lwazi Shongwe, a multidisciplinary artist working across film, photography, music, and fashion under the name EGBLAKBOY (East Guard). I come from Bethal, in Mzinoni, within the GertSibande District of Mpumalanga—a place shaped by resistance, leadership, and histories that are often overlooked.

The name East Guard was born from my grandmother’s final words to me, when she asked me to guard the house. At the time, I did not fully understand the weight of that instruction, but it has since become both a personal philosophy and an artistic responsibility. To me, the “house” is not only physical—it is memory, identity, spirit, and community. I see myself as a culturalcustodian—someone who protects, preserves, questions, and reclaims what has been neglected, erased, or misunderstood.

My work is rooted in memory, responsibility, and truth. I engage with themes of Black identity,

spirituality, masculinity, and social fragmentation. I am interested in how systems such as religion, historical misrepresentation, and socio-political structures have shaped and, at times, distorted our understanding of ourselves. Through my practice, I confront these conditions and attempt to restore a sense of unity, dignity, and consciousness.

I operate within a self-defined ideology I call The Beginning of an End—a reflection on survival in environments shaped by systemic tension and inherited trauma. I question imposed belief systems and challenge the idea of absolute truths, returning instead to the fundamental understanding that we are one, created in the image of God.

Visually, my work carries a raw, symbolic, and cinematic language. I move between documentary realism and constructed narrative, creating images and films that function both as archive and intervention.

I position myself as The Lion of the East—not as a title of ego, but as a declaration of presence,

purpose, and responsibility. I am part of a generation that does not separate art from meaning. Mywork is not only expressive; it is directive. I aim to reshape perception, reclaim authorship, and guard the house—the integrity of Black existence.