I walk in at the Athenaeum which has become a home for the arts, I am an hour or so earlier for the exhibition opening, so I go around the building checking out other artworks by various artists which are up in other studios from previous exhibitions. I meet Viwe Joka; creative writer and artist, we sit down and have a conversation while we wait for 5pm. During our conversation, we talk about the progression of native African creatives, the influences of culture and heritage in creativity particularly to the arts and culture disciplines. A very intriguing conversation preceding the experience yokulandela umoya.
Lo "mcimbi" as how Rez referred to this particular occasion did not seem like an occasion that had been orchestrated, although it was. The arrangement of the setting seems to be coincidental rather than deliberate and carefully planned. The opening reception takes place at one of the studios on the ground floor in the building, one with large windows, it is late in the afternoon, closer or so to an hour before the sun sets. As I enter I am taken aback by how everything seems to be in synchronicity, from how the sun shines and illuminates the space, to how the artworks coordinate to the venue as though this particular venue was only ever designed to accommodate Tshishonga's work, to the background music playing from a motion picture which is playing on a laptop which is displayed as part of the exhibition, oh did I mention the vibrancy of all the beautiful people who were attending the opening? I quickly feel elevated, Rez enters the room with ingqayi which contained umqombothi and a minute later he comes back with impepho and tobacco and burns it. For a while, I do a walkabout around the room, admiring the artworks before Sibusile Xaba blessed us with an beautiful musical performance. Rez, according to his own terms, describes umoya as an intangible "thing" that we can feel. He describes it to be something that lives within us and surrounds us. He had spent several months occasionally travelling with a group of AmaGqirha (which may also be referred to as iizaNgoma) who had been performing ceremonies and ancestral rituals around the Eastern Cape.
Ukulandela Umoya II is a fervent venture taken by Rez to understand himself as a being and his upbringing, to understand cultural knowledge systems as well as the larger ancestral network that reveals itself in a multitude of ways that he says connects us all as people. A manifestation of searching for the understanding of "umoya" itself - in his attempt, he focuses on ubuGqirha/ubuNgoma to explore these extensive beliefs and principles as well as to unpack how through ritual technology, interaction with sacred spaces and the alternate world of healing and enlightenment can become accessible to us. Mzwanele's artistic approach tries to explore these notions, considering the various modalities in which spirit exists. Using photography, he examines the myriad of ways in which umoya can be experienced and his findings help him to unpack the world within him as well.
In this exhibition most of the work is printed on dibond (fabricated sheets of aluminum) giving the photographs a glossy finish, a sleek texture and flective look which creates depth against the wall. I think this is also one of the elements which I think synchronizes the work into the space. One photograph is printed on canvas, Rez has beads embedded on it, forming a small trail which represents isilawu which is pouring over the subject's head, creating a realistic experience of the ritual being performed. Two images of children (one of a young boy whose face isn't visible and is mystified by smoke esoja inyama ebuhlanti. The second one is an of a child whose face is also not clearly visible but the significance of having the portraits of these children is that; children are a representation of ancestors because children are perceived to have the purest spirits therefore they are closest connection to the spiritual realm.
There's a big photo that is a collage of different photographs he had taken with a camera that uses 120mm film. It is printed on a very large fabric which is installed against another big black, ceiling to floor fabric. The significance of having the collage on fabric was to bring about an imagination and a feel of "umoya", the idea is how one views and engages with the image. Rez explains that if there would be a gust of wind in the venue, it would cause the fabric to be in motion of which the movement of the fabric symbolizes "spirit" and it also shows how the subjects on the image may be perceived as a representation of ancestors or rather feeling the presence of ancestors and again in the background one can still see nature landscapes which signify the relationship between space, nature and umoya. He mentions the relationship between space, nature and umoya a few times in our conversation during our walkabout - his phenomena is backed up by two photographs which he took at night outside, there is one in the middle of the room which acts as a break between the ritual images and the portraits. This photograph visibly shows the stars in the night sky and a tree - he explains how everything in the universe is interconnected, including us humans as part of nature to other creatures and realms in the universe and how rituals and all existing ideologies form part of it.
He explains the significance of serving umqombothi and burning impepho at the opening reception of Ukulandela Umoya Part II as "umcimbi" - a special occasion and that it was really important to invite his ancestral spirits into the space to be part of the occasion as his work pays homage to the ones who came before him.
Camagu
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