Bafana Mkhize was given the junior award for his sculpture in an exhibition organised by Coral Vinsen and Lorna Ferguson to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1988. The selection panel comprised representatives from varied backgrounds - the arts, politics, law and the social sciences - an idea which gained ground in the 1990s.
Mkhize was born in 1958 in Lamontville, where he still lives, and is a self taught sculptor. Encouraged by George Msimang, he has gone on to work almost full time as a sculptor and his sensitive, often religious sculptures have found a place in the artistic expression of Durban. His work is included in several public galleries and his wood sculptureShepherd was accepted for the 1991 CapeTown Triennial.
The dove by Bafana Mkhize
In April I 989 an exhibition Art in the Market Place was taken to Cape Town and held at the Centre for African Studies, University of Cape Town. The exhibition was intended to give an overview of KwaZulu-Natal art and craft seldom seen in the Cape.
Included in the exhibition were a number of fine Rorke's Drift tapestries and rugs, several on loan, some Rorke's Drift ceramics, traditional coiled pots and a magnificent hand made elephant. Also on exhibit were contemporary beadwork pieces made for the market, Vukani baskets, embroidered and beaded cloth, some of the best bead-cloth sculptures and a display of graphic prints.
The African Art Centre liaised with David Elliott, the Director of the Museum of Modern Art in Oxford, and acted as a receiving point for some of the work selected for the important exhibition Art from South Africa, which opened in Oxford in October I 990 and then travelled to a number of other centres in the United Kingdom.
Many of the works selected were loaned by public galleries, and among them were two by Derrick Nxumalo. Three ball point pen drawings by Tito Zungu were loaned from the Art Centre's Collection.
This was the first time for many years that a comprehensive exhibition of South African art had been exposed internationally. It was made possible under the selective cultural boycott, which promoted 'progressive' culture while isolating apartheid culture.
The theme of the fifth annual conference of the South African Association of Art Historians, held at the University of Natal, Durban, in July 1989 was Diversity and Interaction. The African Art Centre was invited to put up an exhibition of contemporary beadwork and bead-cloth sculpture, showing again the growing interest of academics in changing art forms.
Church art
In South Africa the Roman Catholic Church has been the leader in introducing the works of African artists into their Churches. The work of sculptors Bernard Ncwenza and Reuben Xulu are in many Roman Catholic Churches in KwaZulu-Natal, and no doubt in other areas.
Michael Zondi has a large and remarkable Christ on the Cross in the Lutheran Church at the Appeisbosch Mission, near Dalton, and not surprisingly a magnificent tapestry - designed by Azaria Mbatha -hangs behind the altar in the Church at Rorke's Drift. Vuminkosi Zulu has also carried out commissions of religious sculptures for Catholic Churches, as more recently has Zamokwakhe Gumede. All the sculptures are in wood.
Christian teachings and the Old Testament have undoubtedly been a source of inspiration for many black South African artists. This can be seen in the linocuts of John Muafangejo, Azaria Mbatha and the sculptures of Vuminkosi Zulu and a number of lesser known artists who bring their work to the Art Centre.
An exhibition at the Art Centre titled From Rorke's Dri/t to Now was arranged in July I 989 with a view to showing the contemporary work of artists who had been students at the Rorke's Drift Art School. Terry-Anne Stevenson went to Johannesburg, where a large number of former students live, to make contact with them.
She visited five projects - the Johannesburg Art Foundation and the Mfolo, Kathelong, Funda and Orlando art workshops. At each there were three to five former Rorke's Drift students involved, either teaching or using the workshop facilities.
The number of projects in Johannesburg accentuated the dire lack of similar facilities in Durban, and the involvement of so many former students highlighted the remarkable role the Rorke's Drift Art School has played in art development in South Africa.
The response from artists was enthusiastic and 25 of the 52 former students exhibited 52 works ranging from ceramics, graphic prints, paintings and sculpture to weavings. Artists living and working in Gauteng were in the majority, with only seven living in KwaZulu-Natal.
The exhibition was favourably reviewed by Carol Brown, who mentioned in particular Thami Jali's Birth of an African Child, Charles Nkosi's watercolour Iqhawe, with its cubist fracturing of forms and delicate, precise handling of the medium, and Ben Nshusha's Wedding I. In her review in the Daily News on August 5, 1989, she said:
Bafana Mkhize at work on
one of his
sculpture
"The linocuts and pottery are of a predictable standard, but what is perhaps most important about this group of artists is that 25 out of 50 who graduated are represented and most are still work-ingat their fine art.
Bernard Kuboni
A sculptor who emerged in 1969 was Bernard Kuboni. He found his way to the Art Centre from a rooftop next door to the shop. Among several interesting and original small sculptures he brought in was one carved in a light wood which he titled Queen. It depicted a strange human-animal form sitting on a simple high backed chair.
The sculpture, which was bought by the Tatham Gallery, had great sophistication in its execution and reminded me of work of the well known sculptor Peter Schutz. Though his output is small as a part-time artist, Kuboni's work has continued to be interesting.
The opening was held at noon on a Saturday to enable the artists, many of whom had to travel long distances, to be present. That so many came showed the affection and appreciation the artists feel for their old school.
Fewofthem can sell sufficiently well to be financially encouraged, so it speaks volumes for the enthusiasm and love of their art that was instilled by their school. Many other art establishments would be proud to have such a large majority of practising artists still working seven years after the last student graduated.
The opening was greatly enlivened by the guest speaker, Bethuel Ndelu of Clermont. A former teacher, writer and poet, he was an art piece in himself, dressed in a magnificent cow skin jacket and fur headring. His speech drew the participation of the audience - a delightful change from the sage and serious dissertations generally heard at exhibition openings - and he ended the quite theatrical opening with the words:
"Good people of good works like good people. Your good works are for good people."
Credit for the success of the exhibition and reunion must go to Terry-Anne Stevenson. Following her visit to Johannesburg an exhibition from the Katlehong Art Centre was a welcome change, and showed a distinctive art expression.
Featured was clay work probably emanating from traditional pottery, but changed in shape and decorated with faces, birds and figures. An interesting piece was a large clay kettle, and as the Katlehong Art Centre has a kiln all the pieces were fired and durable. Wood sculpture and linocut prints by Bhekizani Manyoni showed him to be a successful graduate of the Rorke's Drift Art School, as an artist and as a teacher at Katlehong.
Training Opportunities
In 1987 Zephania Khumalo and Gabriel Khoza were the first two African students to be accepted for the graphics design course in the Art Department at the ML Sultan Technikon in Durban. After a rigorous and competitive entrance test and acceptance, the two students from Umlazi came to the African Art Centre seeking financial assistance.
They were among the first to be awarded Mbatha Scholarship Fund bursaries, and were also assisted through the Centre by generous donations for art materials by Eric Herr. Both proved talented and hardworking and received their diplomas at the end of 1989. Khumalowas given employment and further training by a leading fabric company In Pinetown, while Khoza found a suitable job in a carpet manufacturing company.
The admission of African students to the ML Sultan Art Department is no longer exceptional, and a one year bridging course has enabled some under qualified students to enrol in a graphic design and textile design diploma course. The course has been sponsored by the Anglo American Corporation, with a nominal fee of R400 charged, and several more students have received bursaries from the Mbatha Scholarship Fund.
Both the Natal Technikon and ML Sultan are now playing an Important role in the formal art training of black students.
The Katlehong Art Centre has been in existence since 1969 and gives the community space and facilities to pursue a variety of skills, from print making and pottery to crafts such as sturdy rag baskets and wire toys. It is the kind of project that one would like to see in Durban.
The 1988 Cape Town Triennial arrived in Durban in July 1989. Black KwaZulu-Natal artists whose work was to be seen were Saint Mokoena's Mr VIP. a painted stone sculpture, a drawing byTitoZungu, an oil pastel drawing by Sfiso Mkame and a painting by Derrick Nxumalo.
Bonnie Ntshalintshali, who had been encouraged by Fee Berning of Ardmore potteries, showed her painted clay sculpture - pyramids of people and animals. There were, of course, other important black artists from other provinces whose work was exhibited. There was also far wider representation of the work of black artists than had been the case on previous triennials.
