Phansi goes Phezulu Gallery will enthral
visitors to the Museum with an exhibition of mesmerizing pencil crayon sketches
of the existentialist landscapes of Msinga by Jannie van Heerden. Appointed as
the Deputy Chief Education Specialist-Visual Arts/Design, for the KZN Education
Department in 1988, van Heerden spent many a hot dry day in the region of
Msinga assisting local artists with the sourcing of buyers, materials and
publicising their incredible artistic gifts by working closely with museums and
development agencies.
Better known for his oil on canvas
paintings, van Heerden recently decided to start making his mark on paper with
coloured pencils. He admits to developing a predilection for the medium because
of the fine control of the pencil, its precision, the ability to blend heavy
and light lines, its potential for opulence and simplicity and how one can
build up on colour to achieve a variety of marks and patterns. The drawings on
exhibition illustrate the artist’s deliberate expressionistic style, the
manipulation of the medium and his ability to capture the rugged beauty of the
serrated rocks that wrap the landscape amid the uniquely African flora.
Msinga, who can forget the immense contrast
of driving from the lush green fields and forests of colonial Greytown into the
barren and rocky landscapes of the largely rural area located in the deep
gorges of the Tugela and Buffalo Rivers in KwaZulu-Natal? This is the landscape
that contain magnificent distorted rocks and land ravaged by drought, Yet, let
there be a thunderstorm and within days, the colourful Nguni cows are fat
again, the goats are abounding amongst the thorns and the local maidens and
matrons are dressed up in their traditional finery to follow the dusty paths to
attend celebrations and festivals and dances.
Msinga is a difficult place to live in, yet
it is the ancestral place of people who feel that they were never conquered and
will never be conquered. The Mchunu, Thembu, Bomvini and other tribes in the
region who have their links to Msinga and those who were departed to other
distant homes from the farms in the area and took their styles with them. Remember
the fantastic earplugs worn by the Msinga people.
In Msinga, as in many other traditional homes,
when things went well one spent money on adorning yourself, your loved one, or
the one you were messaging with beautifully beaded love letters – indicating
who you are, where you come from, your status, your skills and how up to date
you were with the trend of the day. All this naturally executed according to
the generally accepted rules of the community and the demands of the ancestors.
Most importantly - be humble, show respect and keep order. This exhibition
highlights the beauty and magic of the art from Msinga.
The gallery has underlined van Heerden’s
pencil drawings with a simple bead panel which a traditional married woman
wears on her cotton apron over her Isidwaba (leather apron). The exhibition
illustrates how over time, patterns and colours changed as new materials or new
master crafters arrived - for example, the Isishunka pattern being the earliest
and most complicated to the Isinyolovane or the Isimodeni patterns.
Also on view area are a selection of
artistic masterpieces such as beaded sculptures, beaded dolls, life-sized
Msinga puppets in traditional regalia and a selection of extremely special
aprons worn during the period of childbearing that follow different rules all
together.
The exhibition draws on artefacts from the
Phansi, the George and Liz Zaloumis, and the Jolles collections to support van
Jannie van Heerden’s work.
Magical
Msinga at Phansi goes Phezulu Gallery runs at Phansi
Museum until June 10, 2017. Phansi Museum is situated at 500 Esther Roberts
Road, Glenwood in Durban. Contact Sharon Crampton on 031 206 2889 or email admin@phansi.com or visit www.phansi.com
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