Siphenathi Mneno

VIRTUAL TOUR

ARTIST CATALOGUE

“Ukubekwa Kophawu, ukuBaluleko kwalo kunye nemvelaphi yabaNguni ( kaXhosa).”

“Ukubekwa Kophawu, ukuBaluleko kwalo kunye nemvelaphi yabaNguni ( kaXhosa).” This body of work is primarily inspired by and deeply rooted in my culture, specifically Xhosa culture. The heritage, rites of passage, spiritual practices, and way of life in the villages of the Eastern Cape have profoundly shaped my identity as a young Xhosa man. This work narrates my journey in understanding the practices of Xhosa culture and the orally transmitted knowledge from my childhood. This was prompted by the displacement caused by my migration from the villages of the Eastern Cape (The Transkei) to the Western Cape, specifically to Cape Town, for the betterment of myself and to further my knowledge at the University of Cape Town. 

Through this was a significant opportunity for me, but it also, through the years of being in Cape Town at school, left me wondering whether; after being displaced from my culture for this period of time, I even know it and understand it, and its practices (Umsebenzi/ Iimisebenzi) as well as I believed I did. This sparked a curiosity and fascination in me to question my culture and its practices, not to find problems in it, but to gain a comprehensive understanding, which I believe would allow me to accept it for what it is. These questions and curiosity led me to look at how orally passed down knowledge, storytelling, and symbols convey rich meanings in African culture, serving as vital tools for preserving knowledge. Also, to how this rich history and meaning in these aspects of the culture are progressively getting lost and were being lost before, throughout African cultures, because of migration caused by the yearning for a better life in the cities than in the rural areas. In Xhosa culture, storytelling, including sacred narratives like initiation (ukoluka), ceremonial practices (Iimisebenzi), and symbols, plays an essential role in maintaining our heritage, and without researching and studying more about those aspects of our culture, we will lose them as the next generation.

My interest in storytelling and symbolism was sparked by Andile Dyalvane's body of work, titled “Ithongo.” This collection emphasizes a gathering of dreams that reside within the soul, overseen by our ancestors in the ancestral realm. Further study of Andile’s work and other symbols in Credo Mutwa’s book “Indaba My Children”, while also looking at other symbols sourced on the internet, I developed a style and body of work that works with these symbols and in ceramics and creating them in 3-dimensional form. My three-dimensional symbol sculptures represent Xhosa words and will be displayed in an ambiguous arrangement on a surface of sand, serving as a temporary substitute for cow dung. While I plan to use cow dung in the final exhibition to evoke the sense of a kraal, cow dung references the floors of Eastern Cape Rondavel houses. 

My goal with this project is to address the misunderstandings that many individuals, including myself, who feel disconnected or displaced from their cultural experience, while also addressing how I view labour as an artist, in juxtaposition with a Xhosa man whose part in his culture is to perform labour during the ceremonial practice ( called Umsenezi/ Iimisebenzi). Furthermore I will also speak on how we as black African children inherit this labour and migration from our previous generation, going down through history I want to demonstrate that it is possible to overcome these feelings without distancing ourselves from our cultural practices. Most importantly, I hope my project conveys how we can bridge the gap that institutions often have in understanding the cultural experiences and practices of all Black students and students of color.