Zilungile exhibited her photography series titled Ilifa at Art & Conversations eBhayi last year in November and last month I interviewed her for a feature on Chosi.blog and it was really interesting to learn more about her creative journey.
Born and bred in uMthatha in the Eastern Cape, Zilungile Hanise says that she has been in conflict with defining herself for the longest time, hence exploring her art and design style was a struggle until she realised that during certain phases and certain seasons in her life she often uses different mediums to speak to the world and right now it is through textiles and illustrations which have been part of herself for a long time except that she has never actually expressed it “ I decided to test it out first with the Artist Alliance and that was the first time I showed people that type of work, I was selected for it so I was like yeah girl, let’s go, let’s rock with it, so now I define myself as a textile designer and illustrator.
The 29 years old creative qualified as an Interior Designer from the Inscape Educational Group, is the founder of Uhambo Concepts and an incubatee for the V & A Waterfront Artist Alliance Programme which is a free business course and mentorship for artists of which she says she is grateful to be a part of, she says that there is a lot that she has learnt and it been a great networking opportunity.
Zilungile’s inspiration to become a designer began when she was a child, it has always been a part of her growing up. When she was younger, Lungi used to design clothes for her dolls, and in high school she used to make graffiti on paper, drawing her name with different fonts, and exploring different colours stimulated her creative process. The background where she comes from and the way she was raised also played a major role in influencing Zilungile’s pursuit in arts and design especially when she moved to Cape Town and realised that a person can thrive off being a designer or an artist regardless of the stereotypes about such careers in black rural and semi-urban societies so she initially applied for architecture at the Nelson Mandela University but ended up enrolling for interior design at Inscape Educational Group of which she says she was glad she ended up there.
The concepts and creative process behind Lungi’s work are influenced by her life experiences, being a black woman in South Africa, being Christian; her relationship with God, vulnerability and the healing process. She says that she realised that often in black societies we do not have the space for people to be vulnerable, always people have to put on a strong personality but she has realised that there is strength in being vulnerable and that is what she wants to push with her artworks and designs – “I want people to know uba it is okay to not be okay, to work on yourself, to be a work in progress and not being perfect. Let’s not strive for perfection, let’s strive for progress because when we strive for perfection it’s far, it’s there. So with one step at a time, you see yourself going 100 miles”.
Some of the highest moments in Zilungile’s career include exhibiting at Arts & Conversations in November 2020 in Gqeberha which was her first exhibition and being chosen as one of the 12 artists in Cape Town to take part in the Artist Alliance Programme – “those are the two most recent and big things that have helped me to discover more about my art, my style and more about myself as well in this industry endikuyo, with the pop art exhibition I realised that I enjoy exhibitions and the response from people encouraged me and it was some sort of validation about the stories that I have to tell even if it is just a few people that want to hear them, and the Artist Alliance gave me the tools that I need to sustain me in this path that I have chosen”.
After the Artist Alliance Programme Zilungile is looking forward to further developing her style and her skills, working on projects for solo exhibitions and is also looking forward to collaborating with streetwear brands.
To see some of her inspirational illustrations, follow her on her social media platforms @zilungile_h and @uhamboconcepts_ on Instagram.
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