Johannes & Collen Maswanganyi
Father and son, 2018’s KKNK festival artist Johannes (right) and his son, the artist Collen Maswanganyi at the launch of this year’s KKNK in January. Photo: Schalk le Roux
By Walter Bakker
WHEN in one family generation after generation artists of the highest calibre are produced one cannot help but wonder whether it is a genetic “thing”, a spritual “thing” or a learned “thing”? The Maswanganyis from the Msengi Village in the Limpopo Province is such a family.
Johannes Maswanganyi is the festival artist (feeskunstenaar) for this year’s KKNK. An exhibition of wooden sculptures with his son, Collen Maswanganyi, named Dance and Carve with My Father, can be viewed in the Prince Vintcent Building (daily 09:00 – 17:00; on 2 and 4 April 10:00 – 17:00). This is a rare combined exhibition of these two internationally known artists’s works.
Entrance is free.
Johannes Maswanganyi’s father carved spoons, bowls and usable utensils which all had an intrinsic beauty to them and, as was the norm in those days. Johannes learnt the art of woodcarving by watching his father at work. He, however, took the carving a step further and became quite creative and was soon producing works of deep spiritual significance, illustrating his Christian religion or rendering his traditional beliefs.
Jesus Walking on Water is pure, clean and iconographically Christian whereas a sculpture depicting stern faces and drums, meant to awaken the spirits within the sangomas is firmly rooted in African spiritualism. For Johannes there is no contradiction whatsoever in adhering to both these traditions.
Johannes’ eldest son Collen took up the carving baton and now produces some very thought-provoking works. The humour at times is quite poignant like in his Uncle and Gold Digger which depicts a nattily dressed man – a happy blesser – standing next to a simpler dressed woman with a baby strapped on her back. The woman’s head has been replaced by a pick, and what makes the story so grim-humourish is that the baby’s head is a mini-pick… telling us that the baby is already being groomed to also become a gold digger.
Another work shows a man straddling a fish. “This is a man in the business world that does not give up… even in difficult times,” says Collen. One gets the feeling that no matter the calm or stormy conditions of the waters the man will always be serene. Is the fish a Christian symbol here, one wonders?
Examining the inherent contradictions of being a Christian and having sangomas as a significant influence in his life, Collen has produced some deeply probing and insightful works of art.
In a sculpture in which a doctor, a businessman and a clergyman sit flat on the ground whilst listening attentively, arms outstretched, to a sangoma, exposes the disjunction that Collen explores in many of his works.
In a bit of an aside topic Collen was quite frank about the controversial artworks produced by Ayanda Mabulu and Brett Murray. Both Collen and his father emphasised the rights of the artists to convey their messages as they see fit but for themselves they prefer to rather gently and “not so fiercely’ get their messages across. “Good thing for all artists in South Africa though is that for once art was on the front pages of the newspapers. It makes a difference from anything to do with the arts, normally hidden on the last pages, if mentioned at all,” remarked Collen.
Collen has two children and his young son is “playing with art”; thus who knows, a fourth generation of the remarkable Maswanganyi family might soon be joining the line-up of fine artists.
Talking to these two men has been a most enlightening experience and cause for deep reflections…on how we perceive our beliefs, how we deal with it and then how we share those tenets with those around us.