Visual artist Nompumelelo Ngoma is currently showing her first solo exhibition titled THULA MFAZI! at Circa Johannesburg.
Nompumelelo likes to describe her work as having a feminist approach. The exploration of women’s identities specifically within the context of certain traditional African cultures is a recurring theme in her body of work.
Nompumelelo was the winner of the 2016 Cassirer Welz award. This includes a three month residency with Bag Factory Artists’ Studios and an opportunity to show at Circa Johannesburg. The title of her exhibition, THULA MFAZI!, is loosely translates to ‘shut up woman’. It also means ‘to take off the heavy load’. “I came across the phrase THULA MFAZI! as a sticker on a taxi cab which I found very offensive,” Nompumelelo explains, “but then I dug deeper into the double meaning of the word thula, and found a way of responding to this rather misogynistic, commanding phrase.”. In her paintings and drawings she tries to unpack this double meaning. She depicts women covering their faces with a heavy blanket or delicate cloth. Nompumelelo explains that she uses the blanket as a symbol of respect, subservience as well as a symbol of strength used by women within traditional culture.
“The art scene has opened itself up to more young black women to express and navigate their presence and existence in the art scene, and that is a positive outlook on the future of South African art space,” Nompumelelo explains. Her desire is to continue to produce work that is a “reflection of a black woman’s journey of her being”.
To keep up with her work and her plans for 2017 check out her Instagram.
