‘The Provenance Part II’ exhibition explores Bantu indigeneity using thematic triptych

At an event fairly typical of art exhibition openings — replete with dolled-up influencers and funky content creators mingling with models, brand managers and the cool kids of the art scene — three big names in South Africa’s creative economy launched a show that’s sure to get people talking about the three themes at its centre: textiles, literature and music within the context of colonialism and mission work in South Africa’s history.

The exhibition looks at how the introduction of specific frameworks across these three themes have become integrated into contemporary forms of expression. Fashion designer Lukhanyo Mdingi, a joint winner of the LVMH Karl Lagerfeld Prize in 2021, collaborated with award-winning contemporary multimedia visual artist Trevor Stuurman and artist and contemporary gallery owner Banele Khoza, who has had solo exhibitions in galleries and institutions in South Africa, France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.

These three powerhouses joined up to create The Provenance Part II, which focuses on “the preservation of archives, looking into the deep lineage of Bantu indigeneity and Black Consciousness in South Africa”. 

Mdingi’s first exhibition, The Provenance, which showed at THEFOURTH gallery in Cape Town, was an exploration of colour, shape, form and texture as represented in the mediums of photography, film, music and fashion. In the exhibition, he reimagined the traditional display space as a place for contemplation, reflection and study. He wanted to communicate the essence of his brand, delving into its “personality” and offering a glimpse of the origin and history of each of his designs. Part of the exhibition was a tribute to late designer Nicholas Coutts, whose memory was honoured with a garment made from angora kid mohair, cotton, Merino wool, and metallic and acrylic yarn, as a way to conceptualise friendship and love.

I met with Mdingi at the Women’s Jail exhibition wing at Constitution Hill while the work was going up the day before the opening of the second iteration of his series. “The overarching theme of the first exhibition was research and archiving in the context of my fashion brand,” said Mdingi. “It focused on showcasing my process within the context of design development, textile making, and making clothes, highlighting my approach to developing collections, from my sketch boards and journaling right through to the fittings and mock-ups.”

Mdingi said the practice of archiving had always been incredibly important to him and added, “In The Provenance Part II, I took a different approach and didn’t situate the exhibition within the context of the brand. Instead, I looked at how Bantu indigenous culture has a huge effect on our creativity.”

With his interest in clothing, Mdingi researched the history of textiles in South Africa and, along another trajectory, the history of South African literature and music. “It started as personal curiosity. I wanted to know more about the things I’m interested in,” he said. “My research highlighted that, particularly in textiles, mothers from marginalised groups integrated the practice of weaving into their daily lives. It became part of the heritage of their families. Then, under the theme of literature, I focused my research on Lovedale Press, which nurtured generations of prominent intellectuals and political leaders, including anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko.”

In 1823, Lovedale Press was established, publishing educational and evangelical isiXhosa texts and literature, as well as the Ikwezi newspaper and journals such as Bantu Studies. The press was destroyed in the Frontier War of 1834-1835, but rebuilt in 1861, and since then has printed and published literary works by black writers, authors and musicians. “Lovedale was the first publishing house to focus on writing in indigenous languages,” said Mdingi. “The literature they produced had a strong impact on me. I wanted to explore what it meant to my culture to have this work published. I wanted to highlight where the work came from and how important it was.”

Mdingi broke the theme of literature down into different elements. “We focused on the notable alumni and looked at the Lovedale Press books that were published, including those written by prominent political leaders such as Biko, who laid the foundations of our democracy today.” He reiterated that it was these writers who came out of Lovedale Press who inform how we participate in our culture today. “I wanted people to understand a bit more about where these writings came from.”

The other aspect of the literature element of the exhibition looks at Mdingi’s grandmother, who was a lecturer at Walter Sisulu University. She also gleaned a lot of her knowledge from Lovedale Press. “I have recordings of her reciting poetry from Lovedale Press publications at the exhibition,” he said. “I wanted to bring more visibility to this esteemed institution, which celebrated its 200-year anniversary a few years ago. It’s a national treasure.”

Mdingi, Stuurman and Khoza partnered with Amathole Museum in Qonce, which has a large Lovedale Press archive, in putting together the exhibition. “It was an incredible opportunity for me and Banele to go through the works. It made me realise how much important information there is about our history that isn’t being seen. Most people don’t have access to it.”

The last element of the exhibition is music. “There’s a gospel choir called Amadodana Ase Wesile that was founded in the 1980s by Thomas Mokhathi,” says Mdingi. “Gospel itself is so important as an expression of Bantu hopes. There’s a specific hymn they sang called Siyakudumisa Thixo. It’s a song of praise and worship that’s been integrated into different denominations of the Christian faith in Bantu homes in South Africa. I wanted to highlight its importance.”

So how do you exhibit music? “We play it in a specific part of the gallery,” says Mdingi. “We partnered with an incredible industrial designer, Philip Kramer, who creates speakers. We asked him to make a sound installation to play the anthem. The sound experience itself is the artwork.”

“The practice of research is inherently already part of my design process. There is so much that people see of the finished result, but so little of the development and research process, which is just as important,” says Mdingi.

“I hope the exhibition inspires the urgent call for record-keeping and archiving — a prerequisite for contemporary generations to take up the mantle of preservation, honouring the contributions that have made this spirit manifest, as we continue.”

He adds, “This exhibition is about people — people who look like me — and it’s about bringing visibility to our history.”

The exhibition runs until June 17 at Constitution Hill, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, in the Women’s Jail exhibition wing. 

This article was originally published in the Sunday Times Lifestyle.