Had it not been for our escort, local businessman Memento Skhosana, who nudged: “there is Gogo”, I would have missed the portrait of the doyenne of African art Dr Esther Mahlangu surveying us from her window, framed by her artwork that dons the walls of her home in Mpumalanga.
It was a brief, but magical moment of seeing the master at one with her art as her shaven head adorned with beads, and her shoulders draped in a multi-coloured blanket bedecked by beadwork and a gold choker, blended with her bold murals.
We meet just two days after the 86-year-old was conferred with an honorary doctrate in arts and design by the Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria.
“I’m happy,” she smiles, explaining that it was her third honorary doctorate – and a humbling experience given her age. In 2018, Mahlangu was awarded honorary doctorates by the University of Johannesburg and the Durban University of Technology.
When she talks about how art has shaped her life and how her life continues to be shaped by art, Mahlangu does not refer to her global iconic status, awards and collaborations with luxury brands and award-winning superstars such as John
Legend. No, she talks about the children she teaches – those from her village of Mthombothini, near Siyabuswa, to the big cities of Gauteng. Sharing her talent and culture through teaching children, she says, is her calling. “There’s something in my heart that said, ‘teach the children’.”
She speaks fondly of the children, from those who cannot paint to save their lives and those who pick up the skill with ease. “Children are different,” she giggles, joking that it is the same patience she musters when she is giving art classes to visitors and tourists.
She talks proudly about the community of artists she has groomed in her area, and creating a legacy that will attract visitors and tourists long after she is gone. You have to coax her to talk about her achievements from her works that form part of exhibitions around the world to her extensive travels. She was awarded the Order of Ikhamanga in Silver by former president Thabo Mbeki in 2006.
As we chat, she is wearing a beaded necklace, a gift from former president Nelson Mandela, which she fondly refers to as “My Mandela”. Oprah Winfrey, Swiss Beatz and Black Coffee have her work as part of their private collection. She was
commissioned to paint a Rolls Royce dubbed the Mahlangu Phantom.
It is Mahlangu’s students that Skhosana, who is also her relative, is assembling to paint a wall to connect Mahlangu’s homestead, the culture and art heartbeat of the area, with the business and entertainment district – a main street which he hopes will be named after the decorated artist.
One of her long-time students, 45-year-old Rabatho Nkosi, who learnt the fine art of “ukugwala” as a nine-year-old from Mahlangu and has travelled with her around the world – is looking forward to being part of this legacy project. “I have learnt so much from
Gogo. Her work is unique. She is also a stickler for precision.”
Skhosana, who owns several businesses in the area, said had it not been for Mahlangu and her work, which draws people from near and far to the area, it would be unknown.
“The aim is to build a mural to connect Dr Mahlangu’s homestead to the street with a lot of businesses as part of creating our own culture, art, entertainment and business hub similar to Orlando’s Vilakazi Street,” he said.
“We are not going to wait for big sponsors to realise this dream. We have started with the little we have,” he said, before showing us the parts of the walls under construction.
It was Skhosana, submission that got the area featured as a location in Beyonce’s movie, Black is King. The last scene of the movie includes shots from the local church and Mahlangu’s best friend’s house.
Mahlangu, who turns 87 on November 11, is a mother of three children who have since passed on. She has 11 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren.
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