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| Sipho (Pina) Hlengetwa; Sikhumbuzo Nkosi; Shane Hlophe; William Mcolisi Mahlase and Pamela Nokwazi Mahlalela. |
Vincent van Gogh said: " ...and then, I have nature, art, and poetry, and if this is not enough, what is enough?”
When is enough, and what would that enough look like? This is the perfect question for Deanne Kim, the director of Nebulae Productions cc - Artz Africa Cultural Projects.
She studied art after completing school, fine art whilst residing in the Philippines, and then visual arts through Unisa. In 1995, whilst in the Philippines, she was invited to be a judge of the country's arts festival in Baguio. She also taught fine art to ex-pats while living in Baguio.
Back in South Africa in 1998, she opened her first art school, teaching students from the ages of four to 85. In 1999 she met the late Dr. NE Phaswana - at the time, a lecturer at Wits University.
They started Kalahari Productions and Publishing. Deanne also called Lerato, then went on to design more than more 500 book illustrations.
"In 2002 I moved to Kaapsehoop and also became a Kalahari Productions director," she said. Where she gets her infinite energy and zest for what she does, boggles the mind.
The flood gates then opened - 72 OBE educational textbooks followed. She oversaw 25 African writers and also translated her Life Skills Grade R-3 OBE textbooks into nine indigenous languages. These were all later approved by the Department of Education.
"My Nebulae Productions Publishing cc was registered in 2009 and aims to engage with other JVs to assist and enhance education."
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| Deanne Kim |
"I met the talented Bob Mnisi at the Mpumalanga Agricultural Show in 2018 where I exhibited my socio-political contemporary art and this meeting kick-started the birth of Artz Africa. With some 100 Mpumalanga artists (most of them unemployed) on its database, Artz Africa, intends to up-skill and enable natural talent to become independent self-employed artists and or writers," said Deanne.
Part of this initiative is also to get artists involved in justifiable and sustainable projects within their communities. The latter may, in due time, include involvement with local schools so as to develop and nurture artistic talent from a young age.
“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” - Aristotle
This is how Deanne describes her own art. "My art lends toward a contemporary style yet some works are more spiritual. I enjoy doing expressive paintings of native Americans, a tribe that I have always been drawn to. This is due to their them being so drawn to the earth and its elements.
"The political works I paint are not realistic portraits, yet one can visually see exactly who each political hero/icon is. I use metaphors and symbolism to extend additional visual information to the viewer. My preferred medium - definitively oil. I love the smell and the feel of it when I put it on my pallet, it gives me emotional and psychological satisfaction even before I have actually started to paint with it."
So let's highlight just some of the talented Artz Africa artists who are part of Nebulae Productions - Cultural Creative Projects. These artists are all undergoing visual arts skills training which is funded by the National Arts Council.
Bob Mnisi Mpumalanga
Bob Mnisi is acknowledged as the father of Artz Africa. He hails from KaBokweni.
After being selected as one of the ten beneficiaries of Nebulae Productions - Artz Africa Creative/ Cultural Projects / National Arts Council (NAC) Visual Arts Skills development, Bob developed a unique, new, visual art style which is bound to attract the international galleries. This assumption is based on the massive interest in his work generated on social media.
Bob is currently working on a series titled "Isolation”.
In 2017 Bob Mnisi was the winner of the Mpumalanga Agricultural Show. He was also selected as one of the top 100 Standard Bank artists to present his works in Johannesburg.
His works have sold nationally to many five-star private game lodges and it has also found their way onto the walls in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
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| William Mcolisi Mahlase |
William Mcolisi Mahlase.
William qualified as an architect and is one of the latest up and coming Mpumalanga Rural Youth Visual Artists.
He recently started making masks for his KaBokweni Covid-19 Community Project. Besides this, he has sold many of the artworks he created during lockdown.
William is a perfectionist and totally committed to improving his visual art skills. Besides producing art, William and his elderly mother deliver vegetables and groceries to those in the KaBokweni community who are unable to do their shopping.
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| Pamela Nokwazi Mahlalela |
Pamela Mahalalel.
This multi-talented, 28-year-old cultural creative artist is the founder of another Covid-19 community project, named the Khumbula Project in KaBokweni.
Pamela is a fashion designer, writes short stories and poetry.
"In the next five years I see Khumbula Project - with the support of Nebulae Productions Artz Africa Projects, assisting elderly, disabled persons and orphans," she said.
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| Sipho (Pina) Hlengetwa |
Sipho (Pina) Hlengetwa.
Sipho is a contemporary visual artist and founder of a Covid-19 community project NPO in Matsulu.
Prior to the lockdown, Pina’s visual artworks were exhibited at Bohemian Groove Restaurant in Kaapsehoop.
"My mission and vision are to grow in the art industry. I learn from and teach others about the art and one day may open my own art gallery or art center that will give the youth a platform where they can express themselves."
Sipho became the breadwinner at a very young age. He is self-taught and art became a catalyst for overcoming life's challenges.
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| Sikhumbuzo Nkosi |
Sikhumbuzo Solomon
Sikhumbuzo is a young 23-year-old KaBokweni artist. His works are created mainly on fabric and seem to attract the younger generation. His recent Artz Africa community mask-making project became a great success with orders rolling in.
"So I am happy," he said.
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| Shane Hlophe |
Shane Hlope
Shane is another upcoming KaNyamazane visual artist. He won an award at the Mbombela Agricultural Show in 2018.
His visual art paintings were exhibited at the Mercure Hotel/Nebulae Productions - Artz Africa Cultural Creative Hub just a few days before the start of lockdown.
Shane has continued to produce quality artworks throughout the lockdown courtesy of the support of many of his Mbombela clients.
Photos: Supplied
First published in Getit Lowveld
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