(Work by Peter Engblom to be seen at Moyo’s))
Moyo Restaurant at uShaka Marine World now hosting small collections of fine art.
The Moyo restaurant at uShaka Marine World has begun hosting small collections of fine art in their upstairs mezzanine. Running until May will be an exhibition of works by Peter Engblom, Simmi Dullay, Jacki Bruniquel and Hussein Salim.
Peter Engblom – known for his Zulu Sushi works - studied photography at the Bavarian State Institute in Munich. His ancestors established a Norwegian mission outpost in Zululand at the turn of the last century. A sugar farmer and yacht broker, he has spent over a decade photographing traditional rituals and ceremonies in Zululand. Peter has produced audiovisual experiences for clients such as Itala Bank, Lever Brothers, CI Caravans, Ilanga Newspaper, KwaZulu Monuments Council and the Local History Museums in Durban. He designed the Bensusan Museum of Photography in Johannesburg and the Portnet Visitor Centre in Durban and lectured photography at the Natal Technikon's Fine Art Department. He created the concept and history of Mpunzi Shezi, the first Zulu missionary to the Japanese - he took Ubuntu to the Buddhists and brought Zen back to the Zulus. He describes his work as 'the Celestine Prophecy meets Mad Magazine". He also designed the suitcases for Big Brother. He is a trained sangoma.
“At the moment I find myself creating photographic lies,” Peter is quoted as saying in an interview with Photographie Magazine - Germany 2005. “The Zulusushi work is based on the fact that ethnic identities are basically constructions that we are swindled into believing. My pictures are constructions of events that never took place.”
Simmi Dullay says of her work: “As we contemplate place and the burden of painting, I am compelled to confess my inadequate disposition, as each attempt at reaching a serene state of contemplating “place” and “painting” has failed. Inevitably, what happens when thinking of art resembles anarchic revolt, as I’m submerged within the combat zone of aesthetics, representation, ideology, sex, murderous plots and even strategies of world domination. Do not be fooled by the glossy veneer and luminous colour, the world of art is a dangerous one, let’s not forget that artists across the disciplines are often the first to be censored and persecuted in undemocratic regimes. Within these lethal but intoxicating fumes of pigment and oil, my place belongs in the visceral embodiment of painting, unravelling worlds of exile, into one space which becomes physically tangible and discerning. My love for painting/s is bound in the violent subtlety, gentle incitement to revolt and ability to change the way we think through unspoken imaginary spaces.
Jacki Bruniquel is a multi disciplinary artist who works in mixed mediums creating richly layered works that often incorporate photography. In this body of work she uses the “fight or flight” concept to investigate her sense of national pride at a time when so many South Africans are emigrating. This became both a social and personal symbol... "I wanted to speak about my own feminine South African identity versus my free spirited desire to travel and experience the global sphere. I used photography, painting and collage to create mixed media works which are richly layered and textured. Symbols such as birds, proteas, and landscape vistas were used to represent this fight or flight concept while the use of fabric and lace creates an atmosphere of femininity and idealism."
Hussein Salim is a Sudanese artist currently doing his masters at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He is an established international artist, having exhibited extensively throughout Europe, Africa and the United States. Since his residency in South Africa, he has shown work regularly at the Bonisa Private Gallery in Kloof. It is a privilege to be showing his exquisitely fresh abstract works, which combine archetypal symbolism with a modernist vocabulary. His paintings have the quality of ancient sand-script recited as hip-hop, jazzy bee bop or Rollin Quito.
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