Created By
Fumani Maluleke
Charcoal and pastels on paper (Framed and mounted)
Curator
Luke Chapman
In "Ntiro wa manana," which roughly translates to "mother's work" or "women's labor," Fumani delivers a visual testament that pulses with sociopolitical resonance while avoiding didactic simplification. This piece vibrates at the intersection of documentation and celebration, memory and presence. What strikes me immediately is Maluleke's strategic deployment of color against the monochromatic field—not merely decorative but fundamentally argumentative. Those vibrant textiles don't just clothe the women; they declare their humanity against a landscape that threatens erasure. The chromatic intensity reads as both cultural pride and metaphysical resistance—these women refuse to dissolve into the background of history. What we're witnessing in "Ntiro wa manana" is Fumani's evolving exploration of how collective memory is carried not just in archives or monuments, but in the quotidian—in the daily, unheralded work that sustains communities. This isn't just a scene observed; its heritage embodied, a visual reclamation of narratives too often pushed to the margins of both art history and national consciousness.
Ntiro wa manana exemplifies Fumani Maluleke's distinctive approach of combining charcoal with vibrant pastel on paper. This powerful composition depicts three women engaged in agricultural labor, working with what appears to be wooden tools in a field. The composition itself performs a kind of choreography of labor, the bent bodies creating a visual rhythm that suggests both the repetitive nature of agricultural work and the communal bonds forged through shared effort. Yet there's nothing romanticized here—the brooding sky and sparse landscape acknowledge the harshness of rural subsistence. Fumani is working within a critical lineage of South African artists confronting the invisibility of Black women's labor, but with a distinctive visual vocabulary that merges documentary impulse with emotional gravity. The title itself performs important cultural work, using Xitsonga language to center indigenous knowledge systems and perspectives. Maluleke's technical mastery is evident in the detailed rendering of the figures against the minimalist landscape, creating a poignant statement about rural life and women's labor.
Created By
Fumani Maluleke
111 x 150 cm | 44 x 59 in
2024
