South African artist Blessing Ngobeni first picked up a paintbrush during a nine-year stint in prison, drawing fellow inmates and birthday cards to “kill time”.
At his downtown Joburg studio, Ngobeni mixes paint that he will use for his next body of work to be exhibited in London next year.
“I was sentenced to nine years in prison, then I stayed in prison for those years, that’s where I discovered that oh there is something. And though it was more like killing time, it was not like something that I was sure of. I was like, let me just push the time and kill the time, my time by drawing other inmates’ portraits and designing birthday cards and writing messages,” he said.
This month the 35-year-old showcased his work at South Africa’s FNB Art Joburg Fair, a leading contemporary art exhibition featuring artists from across the continent, back in full swing after a two-year pause linked to the pandemic.
His latest body of work titled, ‘Spirit of Water Dancing’, was displayed in front of colourful canvases with a painted set of antique armchairs and sofas, inspired by an eerie discovery in 2016 of a chair in North Georgia allegedly stuffed with the hair of black slaves.
“I recreated the same story using the same couches, printed my work in these couches and stuffed in things that are very secretive to the people but what I looked at also there, the beauty of these things that we have, these things that we own lies a secret, lies DNA, lies memories, lies the pain of the other people,” Ngobeni told Reuters.
The Art Fair has pioneered Pan-Africanism since its inception and this year featured exhibitions from galleries across Africa including Zimbabwe, Botswana, Ghana, Uganda and Nigeria.
“What’s exciting about the group of artists that the continent has, is the vibrancy and they are very different. The materials they are using, the storytelling behind their work is very different to what you find in Europe or in the US,” said Mandla Sibeko, managing director for FNB Joburg Art Fair.
Nigerian art curator and founder of Pacers Gallery in Lagos, Wunika Mukan, who was also exhibiting at the fair told Reuters that the diversity of African art was inspiring to see.
“There is a lot of figurative art that is going on in West Africa. So, a lot of artists are making works with black faces black portraits, black poses. So, coming here and seeing a lot of abstract work and sculptures has also been very refreshing,” she said.
“I think it’s important as well as artists from smaller communities that we do come into spaces like this because it’s important that we are seen, and we get to experience and network with other artists who are from the more established communities and backgrounds,” added one art enthusiast Tanlume Enyatsesng.
Other famed artists who showcased their work included Mary Sibande and Zanele Muholi.
The fair also had various initiatives across the city such as Open Art a programme focusing on public art and installations in unexpected areas.
