Barongwa: I am that I am | Tsoku Maela 31.08 – 23.09.2016
Growing up in the Sepedi culture where ancestral worship is still prominent, photographer Tsoku Maela initially shunned the practice as irrational. “Talking to the dead,” he explains, “seemed like ill logic.” But through an experience which landed him in hospital with an undiagnosable condition in 2014, Maela began to recognise the creative and healing power of intuition. “My guardian angels made their presence felt,” he comments. “In my dreams they came alive, first in voice, then in form.” During this time he was compelled, as a man who had never really photographed anything before, to pick up a camera and begin translating his thoughts and experiences into images, as a means of finding himself. The pain disappeared. “To know yourself,” explains Maela, “is to know the very fabric of the universe. That knowledge is passed down by those who came before and watch over us. They are neither man, nor are they God. They are neither here, nor there. They are the guardians or, as we know them, Barongwa.”
It is these ancestors as guardians that Maela acknowledges in his latest solo exhibition. The figures with their painted skin and richlycoloured drapes serve as figurative guides alongside which Maela asks his audience to journey to self-actualisation, from ‘The creation of Man’ to ‘The Three’, where mind, body and spirit meet. Maela also references both ancient religious writings and sacred imagery in a contemporary exploration of the mechanism of image creation and the function of meaning, whereby metaphorical depictions can serve, like Moses’ burning bush, as messages for audiences to decipher. This is not a work of religious dogma, but rather a work of self-study and observation. By sharing his history, Maela aims to give others the tools the Barongwa gave him: “This is a story of us, people, living for others but barely ever getting to know ourselves. Learning about the power of ‘I am…’ and how we define who we really are.”
And if God truly created man in God's image, then can it not be said that this creative energy was androgynous? A balance of both female and male energy the creative and the structural - in the presence of both darkness and light.
Tsoku Maela The Creation of Man, 2016 Digital photographic print 01/03 59.4 x 55.3 cm R4,200
Tsoku Maela The Anointing, 2016 Digital photographic print 01/03 42 x 42 cm R3,000
The Tibetan word 'Bardo' translates into 'intermediate state' or 'transitional state' (as some would say, between life and death). According to tradition this is the state after death in which the untethered conscious experiences reality in its clearest form. But this state of awakening isn't always a pleasant experience, as some souls are overwhelmed by fear of the unknown while others rise to the occasion and learn to face themselves before reaching their next rebirth. A new life of their choosing. This analogy can also be linked into our daily life. If you are going through your state of 'Bardo', fear is not an ally. To give in readily to things of the flesh, things that fade away with time, deprives the spirit and throws the trinity of mind/body/soul off balance.
Tsoku Maela Bardo, 2016 Digital photographic print 01/03 59.4 x 59.4 cm R4,800
Tsoku Maela The Mothers, 2016 Digital photographic print 01/03 59.4 x 37.4 cm R3,900
The “three” are the mind, body & spirit. The figure’s crown is designed in the shape of the Hebrew symbol for the word 'shin' which as a prefix has the same meaning as "that", "which" and "who". It is the burning bush from which God told Moses: “I am that I am”. The character here has reached a state of Nirvana, 'self-actualisation' - a rebirth of sorts after safe passage through the state of ‘Bardo’ where one has to face one’s self while constantly confronted with temptation and suffering.
Tsoku Maela The Three, 2016 Digital photographic print 01/03 59.4 x 59.4 cm R4,800