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TENX10: 100 artworks
by women and gender diverse artists from WAM collections
Mmakgabo Helen Sebidi, Traditionally Mother is Lifesaver, 1993, pastel on paper, (height) 113 x (length) 84cm. Standard Bank African Art Collection (Wits Art Museum). Acquired 1994.
This exhibition celebrates the skill and talent of 100 women and gender diverse artists. The exhibition also marks Wits University’s centenary and WAM’s tenth birthday by focusing on artists whose extensive contribution is often neglected. All the artworks on the exhibition are drawn from the Wits Art Museum collections. This education resource will guide you on your journey of discovery of art by some of these artists. Through engaging with the artworks and activities in this booklet, you will practice interpreting art and explore different ways to express your thoughts about art.
This book belongs to: ________________________________________________________
Education Resource Series
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A thematic approach
How can any curator represent such a diverse collection of works, and group so many artists with different identities together? Mindful of, and wishing to highlight the diversity of artworks by 100 artists, the curators have adopted a thematic approach. Playfully, with multiples of ten in mind, the exhibition investigates ten themes that emerge from the artworks and speak to the curators’ interpretations. By grouping artworks in themes, and exploring the ways in which themes overlap, new relationships between the artworks are proposed. We have tried to show some of these relationships with a key to the themes in this education resource and on the labels. As you engage you will see that many themes can be considered in relation to each artwork.
Bonie Mayvee Ntshalintshali, St. Francis of Assisi Preaching to the Birds, 1988, clay, paint, (height) 21 x (length) 27.8 x (width) 20cm. Wits Art Museum Collection. Acquired 1989.
Let’s look Look at the collection of works in the freestanding glass case. What themes might artworks there explore? Write down the names of artworks that you think fit into the following themes:
Can you think of other themes that might apply to these artworks? Write down your additional themes:
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Multiple interpretations are better than one
The thematic approach that the curators have used to engage with the works on the exhibition is one possible way to make meaning of the artworks. Everyone brings experiences and associations with them that influence the ways they understand artworks. It is wonderful when audience members relate differently to artworks. Sharing our interpretations with each other is an opportunity to learn about art and each other. For example, this Beaded Dompas Holder is an expression of identity that speaks to Zulu beadwork traditions. But it is also a relic of a terrible time in South African history when, after the passing of the Native Act in 1952, black people were required to carry identification documents at all times, and to have permission to be in urban areas defined as ‘white’.
Glossary A relic is an object that is kept as a reminder or remnant of someone, or something that has special meaning for its keeper or its community. Sometimes relics are thought to have magical powers. Artist unrecorded, Zulu, Beaded "Dompas" Holder, between 1952 and 1986, beads, fabric, (height) 49 x (length) 11.8 cm. Standard Bank African Art Collection (Wits Art Museum). Acquired 1986.
Let’s write Write down what one of the works you chose to write about on page one means to you:
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Exploring how we define ourselves and others
Identities are complex, and include the qualities, beliefs, personality traits, appearance and personal expressions of who we are. Let’s consider May Hillhouse’s portrait, Malay Girl, which is as much about colour and the expression of emotion as a depiction of an individual. Even if the artist meant to celebrate the person she was painting, the stylized portrayal, generic title and lack of individual name nevertheless reduces this woman to a representative of her race and strips her of her individual identity.
Let’s talk How do you express your identity? Do you think one’s identity is fixed, or can identities change? Explain your point of view. May Hillhouse, Malay Girl, 1957, oil on canvas, (height) 41.7 x (length) 33.5cm. Wits Art Museum Collection, Norman Herber Fund. Acquired 1976.
By contrast Gabrielle Goliath’s work speaks against the representation of other identities. Goliath makes artworks that challenge the violence through which black, brown, feminine, queer and vulnerable bodies are routinely fixed through forms of representation, like Hillhouse’s portrait. Artworks like Bouquet III express anger at the imposition of identity categories, violence against women, as well as socially entrenched structures of patriarchy.
Glossary Vulnerable means being able to be hurt or damaged by some force or person. Patriarchy is a social system in which men hold the most power and authority. Gabrielle Goliath, Bouquet III, 2007, archival prints, (height) 26 x (length) 130cm each. Wits Art Museum Collection. Acquired 2008.
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Representing how we interact with each other and the world around us
Our individual identities are formed in part through our relationships with others. Artists communicate the complexities of relationships through exploring the roles that individuals play in their communities. One way they may do this is by creating visual metaphors for connections between people. For example, through a process of play in which a girl cares for a figure such as this Nguana modula (Child figure), the girl is prepared for a future relationship between a child and its mother. Most women in seSotho-speaking communities were expected to take on this role and develop this relationship, and might pass their child figures on to younger sisters or daughters.
Joni Brenner explores the relationship between artist and sitter when trying to capture a likeness in clay. Although the portraits seem non-specific, they represent the artist’s interest in capturing the sense of the shifting presence of one particular sitter during many studio sessions. Brenner tries to capture him in a moment of becoming. There is also the material relationship between the clay and how it has been manipulated to represent an individual, the relationship between this artwork and the history of portraiture, and the relationship between this work and other works on the exhibition.
Right: Artist unrecorded, South Sotho, Nguana modula (Child figure), c1920, wood, beads, textile, hide, metal, (height) 38 x (diameter) 14cm. Presented in c.1978 by Erica Berry Mitchell to Wits Museum of Ethnology (Wits Art Museum). Acquired 1992.
Let’s look Look carefully at Joni Brenner’s Extracts. What feelings are evoked when looking at this work? What does the title suggest? What do you think about the person who is represented?
Joni Brenner, Extracts, 2006, bronze, silkagard-consolidated clay on supawood bases, dimensions of heads range from (height) 36 x (length) 74 x (width) 18cm (largest) to (height) 10 x (length) 10 x (width) 13cm (smallest). Presented in 2014 by the artist to Wits Art Museum.
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Picturing sites of being, acting, making, remembering
Just as the artworks might fit into multiple themes, so the themes also relate to each other. For example, past events are located in a place, and are also connected to people. Places may have significance because of what happened there, or who is there, connecting with themes such as history, memory and identity. The manner in which a place has been represented evokes emotions about the place.
Edith King, River and Trees, 1929/30, watercolour, gouache on paper. 26.5 x 38cm. Presented in 1988 by Gertrude Posel to Wits Art Museum.
Let’s talk and write Write down some adjectives to describe this place:
In this landscape painting by Edith King, the artist has included elements such as trees, grass and flowers in an impressionistic manner without naming a particular place. However, as Edith King lived in and painted the landscapes in the Eastern Cape, it is likely that this work reflects her environment. The bright colours and bold lines suggest a strong connection to place and love of the landscape.
Talk about what emotions the artist might have had towards this place? Explain your ideas by referring to the artwork.
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Portrayals of the movement of people and animals
Representations of place can include those to which one travels or migrates. Esther Mahlangu is known for the Ndebele-style painting that she does on walls, canvas and objects like cars and shoes. Some years after visiting Paris in France for an exhibition of her work, she was inspired to paint this artwork, placing herself and her home alongside an aeroplane with the Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame Cathedral and Arc de Triomphe on the other side. The aeroplane and famous Parisian landmarks have Ndebele motifs and speak of her travels and taking an African mural painting tradition to Paris.
Esther Mahlangu, Souvenir de Paris, 2003, mixed media on canvas, (height) 91 x (length) 141cm. Standard Bank African Art Collection (Wits Art Museum). Acquired 2021.
Let’s compare Compare the Irari and the painting- what are the similarities and differences between these two artworks? Write down some of these similarities and differences here:
Artist unrecorded, Ndebele. Irari (Beaded blanket), c1955, woolen blanket, beads, (height) 87 x (length) 162cm. Standard Bank African Art Collection (Wits Art Museum). Acquired 1986.
Talk about how a sense of place and belonging is communicated in each of these works. How is the idea of migration or travel communicated in these works?
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Imaging the place we come from
Historically, and in some contemporary cultures, a woman’s place was thought of as "in the home". Women were expected to keep the house clean, raise children and perform other domestic activities such as cooking, cleaning, sewing, in addition to hoeing, planting and harvesting of crops in some contexts. Many contemporary artists challenge such entrenched ideas about the division of labour, by using embroidery and sewing in their artworks to express their ideas. These works are more powerful because of their subversion of the association of sewing with everyday functional objects in western contexts.
Senzeni Marasela, Umthwalo, 2019, cotton thread on fabric, (height) 42 x (length) 43.5cm. Wits Art Museum. Acquired 2021.
Senzeni Marasela’s Umthwalo (which means “burden” in English) is part of the artist’s series Theodorah Carrying the World. The longing, emptiness and labour of women waiting at home is expressed by the emptiness of the scene, the bareness of the tree and the woman with a winnowing basket, juxtaposed with a globe of the world on a stand.
Let’s find
Glossary
Find another work that has been made using embroidery.
Subversion means the undermining of power and authority. A winnowing basket is used to separate rice or grain from the chaff after threshing.
Write down the Artist(s)’ name:
Title of the work:
Date:
Materials used to create the work:
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Combining visual and written signs
Artists who incorporate images and written text in works, such as can be seen in Esther Maswanganyi’s Xinkwamana, are mixing different modes of representation to communicate their ideas. This embroidery of a maize meal bag translates the original printed text identifying the contents of the bag into a brightly coloured image of a mealie, the staple food of most South Africans, and the sun, which is central to the success of all farming. The bag also speaks to the home context in which maize meal is cooked by women, and about the use of found objects - the transformation of the familiar into something extra-ordinary.
Betty Mashina, Marmite and Grand pa, 1999, cloth, embroidery thread, beads, embroidery trim, (height) 48.2 x (length) 65.5cm. Standard Bank African Art Collection (Wits Art Museum). Acquired 1999.
Let’s talk Why do you think Esther Maswanganyi used a maize meal bag? What does this choice of source material tell you about this artist? If you had to make an artwork out of something that was part of your life, what would it be? Draw it here.
Esther Maswanganyi, Xinkwamana (Embroidered cloth from maize meal bag), c1989, repurposed found object, embroidery thread, (height) 52 x (length) 58cm. Standard Bank African Art Collection (Wits Art Museum). Acquired 1989.
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Recording stories of the past
Left: Selinah Makwana (Designer), Selinah Makwana, Elizabeth Mabia, Julia Makoana (Embroidery artists), Mapula Embroidery Project, 2020 – Through the Eye of a Needle – March, 2020, embroidery thread, textile, (height) 100 x (length) 100cm, Standard Bank African Art Collection (Wits Art Museum). Acquired 2022. Right: Kelelo Maepa (Designer), Selinah Ngobeni, Innocent Maredi (Embroidery artists), Mapula Embroidery Project 2020 – Through the Eye of a Needle – April, 2020, embroidery thread, textile, (height) 100 x (length) 100cm, Standard Bank African Art Collection (Wits Art Museum). Acquired 2022.
Artworks that engage with history tell stories of the past in the present. Such works might redress perceived wrongs in existing histories by exposing individual lived experiences that tell untold stories - often not the same stories told in history books. There may be use of narrative visual devices, and a mingling of the personal and socio-political.
Let’s look, think and draw Look carefully at the artwork on the facing page and then write down your answers to the questions below in the space provided: What do you see? Describe the artwork:
Which events stand out for you in the artwork?
What was happening in your life when this event took place?
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Left: Dorah Hlongwane (Designer), Lydia Mathebula, Elizabeth Mathebula (Embroidery artists), Mapula Embroidery Project, 2020 – Through the Eye of a Needle – September, 2020, embroidery thread, textile, (height) 100 x (length) 100cm, Standard Bank African Art Collection (Wits Art Museum). Acquired 2022. Right: Selinah Makwana (Designer), Glory Mnisi, (Embroidery artist), Mapula Embroidery Project, 2020 – Through the Eye of a Needle – November, 2020, embroidery thread, textile, (height) 100 x (length) 100cm, Standard Bank African Art Collection (Wits Art Museum). Acquired 2022.
Let’s draw Draw a series of pictures about an important time in your life:
When you are finished, show a friend and explain what your visual narrative is about. When does the story take place? How did you choose what to draw?
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Recalling our own and our shared past
Have you heard the saying, they have a memory like an elephant? It means that a person has an excellent memory. In many African traditions, furthermore, the elephant features as the most powerful of creatures. In the past many African communities relied on the memory of the elders of the community to pass down histories. Artists represent memories of events, or sometimes create artworks which assists memory.
Florence Masangani, Elephant, c1986, clay, (height) 46.5 x (length) 67 x (width) 33cm. Wits Art Museum. Acquired 1987.
The Removals series is a representation of events in history that Bongi Dhlomo completed from memory. The series documented her memory of scenes she had witnessed of black and coloured people being forcibly removed from their homes and lands by the apartheid regime in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Forced removals from areas called "black-spots" by the Nationalist government had started as early as 1931, but escalated through the 1960s and 1970s, tailing off in the 1980s. Dhlomo’s use of black and white prints creates a parallel with photography, but enables her to make moving personal images which act as memorials.
Bongi Dhlomo, Removal II: Bulldoze the Blackspot, 1982, (height) 19 x (length) 29.5cm, linocut in black ink on paper. Presented in 1985 by Gertrude Posel to Wits Art Museum.
Glossary A memorial is a something that keeps remembrance alive. A memorial can be a monument, practice, keepsake or speech.
Let’s reflect What, if any, sayings or strategies for remembering, such as tying a string around your finger, have been passed down in your family?
Bongi Dhlomo, Removal IV: Against Our Will, 1984, linocut in black ink on paper, 21.2 x 25cm. Wits Art Museum. Acquired 1985.
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Changing from one state to another
Transitions are changes from one state of being to another, for example the passage from adolescence to adulthood. Transitions can be material, spiritual and psychological, from everyday awareness to alternate perceptions or visions, such as going from waking to dreaming, and in divination and trance. This work by Allina Ndebele that uses skeins of wool to weave a textile shows the transition that takes place at the initiation called Ukuthwasa, which is performed for those who have had a calling (ubizo) from their ancestors to become diviners. The three figures who are placed in a circle in the middle of the tapestry are identified as diviners by their dress and the actual string of white beads dangling from their foreheads. They are in a process of transition. A homestead, people and cattle are above the circle and birds, snakes and a white figure in the water are below. It may be that this structure reflects the transitions between the real world and the spirit realm (abapansi), below, which is central to the process depicted.
Allina Ndebele, Ukuthwasa, c1988, wool, beads, seeds, animal hair, (height) 166 x (length) 139.5cm. Standard Bank African Art Collection (Wits Art Museum). Acquired 2022.
Glossary Skeins are lengths of wool.
Let’s talk Share with the group what other rites of passage are celebrated in your social group? Have you experienced any of them? How did you feel before and after?
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Making with things from our environment
When artists embed elements from everyday life into the artwork, these elements are called ‘found objects’. When incorporating found objects in their works, artists are engaging with ideas about what it means to make art, what the labour of the artist is, and what counts as art. They are demonstrating that conceptual skill is part of the work of artists. The objects that Susan Bristow has incorporated in this work are given additional meaning when considered in relation to the place represented in the postcard. Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, is a mountain in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is a holy place for the first nations of that continent. The collection of rocks, tortoise shells and other organic matter in a repurposed drawer juxtaposed to a postcard of the mountain evoke ideas about place, ceremony and tradition, captured and enclosed in a museumlike display.
Glossary
Susan Bristow, Ayrock, 1981, assemblage of found and altered materials, (height) 40 x (length) 24 x (width) 24cm. Wits Art Museum. Acquired 1981.
Concepts are ideas; conceptual skill in art making refers to the thinking behind the artwork.
Let’s write: Make a list of all the objects that Susan Bristow has used to create her work:
Talk about what associations these objects hold for you.
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Your turn to create
Look carefully at the artwork Traditionally Mother is Lifesaver by Mmakgabo Helen Sebidi, that is reproduced on the cover of this education resource. Do you notice how Sebidi created texture by layering a darker shade of colour on top of a lighter shade of colour using short strokes as marks? Choose one of the bird, animal or human figures in this artwork and try to copy Sebidi’s mark making technique:
Reflect on your museum experience Throughout this booklet we have engaged with a range of artworks, each with multiple themes, and materials. We have emphasised the importance of different interpretations of art. Reflect on your experience at Wits Art Museum by completing the following sentence on the card provided: The most amazing work on this show is: .............................................................................................. by: ...................................................................................................................................................... Please share your reflections with us by drawing on the card provided and posting your cards on the Response wall. You can also post a picture of your drawing on WAM’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/witsartmuseum.
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Key to the themes:
Use the key below to see which themes may apply to artworks. Notice that most of the works can be interpreted in more than one way and may relate to multiple themes. There may also be themes that the curators at WAM did not think of – please add them!
Relationships: how we interact with each other and the world around us History: oral, written and visual stories of the past we record and share Identity: how we define ourselves and others Place: particular sites of being, acting, making, remembering Memory: recalling our own and our groups’ past Travel: purposeful physical movement of people and animals Transition: changing from one material and psychological state to another Textual: combining signs in a visual or written structure that conveys meaning Home: the place we come from and/or where we return Found objects: things we encounter in and collect from our environment Your own themes?
This education resource was compiled and edited by Alison Kearney, Fiona Rankin-Smith, Julia Charlton, Kamal Naran and Anitra Nettleton. It was produced by Wits Art Museum in 2022 to accompany TENX10: 100 artworks, by women and gender diverse artists, from WAM collections.
Paul Emmanuel Design