Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Bless me Father for I have Sinned ...

a portrait of Gail Schwartz; is this what heaven looks like?
I probably never should have gone on the "behind the scenes" tour of the Schwartz Jewelers Art Studio in Parkmore in the first place.

I had gone minimalist since moving to Africa, remember?  I unloaded a ton of stuff in a long and very painful and cathartic process, paring down my lifetime of acquisitions to two extremely cramped pods. I left all my worldly goods behind in storage, in a friend's wine cellar, in a jewelry vault and in people's homes for safe keeping. I came to Africa with my memories and (figuratively) just the clothes on my back. Leaner, lighter, healthier.

Richard Burton & Robert Schwartz (paintings by Isa Schwartz Gesseau)
So why did I have to go back to my Achilles heal of consumption? High jewelry. With some serious Joburg street cred to boot. Schwartz Jewelers has been prominent in South Africa since 1924, one of the few South African firms included in the early closely-held De Beers syndicate. The family has worked with Sir Elton John, Lionel Ritchie (they love him), Richard Burton and Liz (not so much).

Oh, I can handle it, I told myself. I've changed. I'm cured. But being a jewel-aholic is just like all other addiction. You're never really cured. You're just managed.

Gail and Isa
Avoid temptation. The near occasion of sin. I'd managed to walk right past the Schwartz showroom in the Sandton City Mall as well as all the other glittering fine jewelry stores calling my name, hadn't I? (I'm talking to you Brown's!) I can handle it. Sure ... as long as I don't actually walk into the belly of the beast and saddle back up to the jewelry bar for just one peak.

But I did. And when Gail and Isa brought out the catalog of their award-winning designs interpreting art in fine jewelery, I knew I was in trouble. I was leaning out of the proverbial wagon. And falling ...







The pieces Isa showed us were mostly all  inspired by paintings and sculptures made by contemporary South African artists.

a slave bracelet and ring with Islamic designs in 24 kt filigree
an enamel and jewel "girl star" bracelet



Collaborating with a renowned astrophysicist from Wits University, some of the pieces even incorporated into their design actual volcanic lava and meteorite and the exact same stones formed by impacts we had just learned about at the Vredefort Impact Dome World Heritage Site.


The stones set on the face of this volcanic stone broach are trapezoidal cuts of pseudotachylite. The stones hidden on the back are diamonds.
alchemy ... black magic ... sorcery
But ogling was just a venial sin. My sin turned mortal when I took that next step and made the appointment to go back to the studio and meet with Isa to custom design an African Mask ring for me.

Yep, my name is Darlene and I am a jewel-aholic.


Marula Beer

As I have noted before, Africans will make beer out of almost anything. Banana beer immediately comes to mind.

And now we can add the marula fruit to that list. Last weekend, we saw this lady on the side of the road in Mpumalanga selling her fresh-brewed marula beer. Just after harvest time, I guess 'tis the season.

Of course we had to stop, taste and buy a bottle.

How does it taste? Let me put it this way, I will stick to my Amarula.

Silver Linings Parkhurst

Eskom load-shedding is annoying. No electricity. No internet. No lights. No electric stove, oven and microwave.

But there is one silver lining. When we get advanced notice that load-shedding is scheduled in our area during mealtime, we can use it as an opportunity to go out to eat. Ideally somewhere where there is no load-shedding currently. Or somewhere with a brick oven or a generator for backup. But we do not like to leave the pups home in the dark for four hours so our load-shedding dinners out are usually avec les chiens.






I had found an article in Eat Out magazine naming five dog-friendly restaurants in Joburg. Only a couple of them are actually open for dinner. Last week we made a reservation at one of them, The Burnside Cafe in Craighall Park. When we got there, we found it wasn't as dog-friendly as all that. Yes they took our reservation avec les chiens, but when we got there we found that they had moved a table for us from out under the warm and covered well-lit open-air porch into the middle of the grass where we were all alone and in the dark. Now we are very familiar with the New York concept of "restaurant Siberia." We were clearly not chic enough to be seen. Yeah well, homey don't play dat!

We are way too cute for restaurant Siberia!
We ended up cancelling our reservation on the spot and leaving to go back to one of our favorite dog-friendly towns with a slew of wonderful restaurants featuring cafe seating on the street. Parkhurst.

I was a little nervous because we didn't have a reservation and it was a Friday night. But if you get there early - say 6:00 - you can usually find a table. Stella e Luna, Craft, Coobs. Espresso Caffe and Bistro (which is also on Eat Out's dog-friendly list. So is Nice, but alas it is not open for dinner.) So many on 4th Avenue to choose from. Not only do they welcome dogs, they voluntarily put out a bowl of water for them!

@ Parkhurst's 4th Avenue Coffee Roasters
There were a noticeable number of dogs on display at other tables around town and we must have seen at least a  dozen on the street being walked while we were comfortably dining at Craft. They would all stop by to sniff and say hello!

Load-shedding just got a little more dog-friendly.

Monday, March 30, 2015

Safari Peeps and Easter Choco-rhinos!

Vince making marshmallow ...
... in penguin blue, elephant pink, lion and giraffe yellow
colored sugars & cookie cutters
wait four hours for the marshmallow to set; use a cookie cutter to make shapes and dredge in the colored sugar
wow! it worked!
we used the silicon mold to make choco-rhinos too
a crash of black and white choco-rhinos ready for the Easter basket

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Esther

with one of Esther's Easter eggs
Born in 1935 in Middelburg, Mpumalanga, Esther Mahlangu is regarded as South Africa's most important traditional Ndebele artist alive today. In keeping with tradition, she learned the skill of mural painting from her mother and grandmother. Between 1980 - 91 she was a resident at the Botshebelo open air museum which was designed to present a view of the Ndebele culture to visitors. It was the beginning of an international career taking commissions and presenting exhibitions all over the world. (See her extensive resume below.) 

She is best known, as the first person to transfer the traditional mural art to canvas. But why stop there? She also decorated a BMW and a Fiat motor vehicle with traditional designs. She uses feathers, twigs and bundled-twigs as brushes in the traditional way utilizing natural pigments, but she also works with conventional paints.



As soon as we entered her homestead / studio / shop / guest house, I was impressed by the exceptional quality of her work. There is a sophistication to her work that is unique.








Esther's shop is filled with her art for sale as well as clippings and photographs from her international career. It is like a little Esther museum.
















a poster of the BMW

She painted the BMW as she does all her painting ...

with chicken feather paint bushes!

a picture of Esther and the Fiat in a book

beautiful blankets

the studio lapa where Esther teaches

a work in progress

students and visitors can stay in Esther's guest house

common area

a peak into one of the rooms

Be on the lookout NYC and CT! Esther will be exhibiting in a New York Gallery in late April / early May and in Cape Town in November.

















Check out Esther's resume:

Exhibitions: (info. provided by www.vgallery.co.za)
2015         Esther Mahlangu 80 ( Solo Exhibition ) 11 November, Irma Stern Museum, Cape Town,
Shoe Design with EYTYS, Paris Fashion week
2014         Cape Town Art Fair 2014, BMW Pavilion , V & A Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Virginia USA
2013         1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London
Urban Interpretation, Graffik Gallery, London
BMW Art Basel Exhibition, Bazel Switzerland
Contemporary African Art Fair, London
2012         Overlay ( Solo Exhibition ) 34FineArt, Cape Town
2011         África. Objetos y Sujetos, Teatro Fernán Gómez. Centro de Arte, Madrid, Spain
África. Objetos y Sujetos, El Centro Cultural Cajastur Palacio Revillagigedo, Gijon, SpainDurban Tourism Indaba 2011 – Durban, South Africa
Museum of Arts and Design in New York.
Ensemble - 34 FineArt, Cape Town
2010         New York Museum of Arts and Design ( MAD )
Centro Espositive ST.ART, Calenzano, Italy
Carta Intestata Mandela Forum, Italy
Africa 2.0 Influx Contemporary Lisbon Portugal
FIFA World Football Exhibition, Italy
Africa El Centro Cultural Cajastur Palacio Revilla Gigedeo, Spain
Jean Pigozzi Recontrez D'Arles 2010, France
NEW 3FineArt, Cape Town
COOLSTUFF, Cape Town
National Museum Centre, Tokyo, Japan
Biennale di Milindi, Kenya
Galleria Franco Cancelliere, Villa Genovese Sant' Alessio Siculo ( Italy )
Galleria della Fondazione Sarenco, Salò, Italy
Palazzo SAMONE Cuneo, Italy
Galleria Skema 5, Cuneo, Italy 
2009         3rd Moscow Biennale of Contemporary art
MELISSA FEAT Shoe design project House of Palomino, Sao Paulo
Group 09 34Long Fine Art, Cape Town
ArteTivu, Marcon-Venezia
2008         The Speed Art Museum, December 23, 2007 — March 16, 2008
Denver Museum of Art, April 13 — July 6, 2008
Philadelphia Museum of Art, August 2 — October 2, 2008
New Fiat 500 project Italy
‘Esther Mahlangu: Reacquiring’, Kyle Kauffman Gallery, New York, NY, March 27 – May 10
2007         Berlin and Beyond Art in Public Places, Florida USA
Orlando Museum of Art, January 28 — April 22, 2007
The Walters Art Museum, June 17 — August 26, 2007
Tacoma Museum of Art, September 25 — December 9, 2007
34LONG, Cape Town August 7 - September 1
‘Why Africa?’, Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli , Turin, Italy, October 6, 2007 – February 3, 2008
‘Not So Black and White: South African Contemporary Art’, Kyle Kauffman Gallery, New York, NY
‘South African Art: Signs’, Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum, Bratislava, Slovakia
‘100% Africa: The Jean Pigozzi Collection of Contemporary Art’, Guggenheim Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain
‘Heritage Arts Award Festival’, Kizo Art Gallery, Durban, South Africa
‘The Winter Show’, Afro Nova, Johannesburg, South Africa
2006         Indianapolis Museum of Art
34 LONG, Cape Town
Roppongi Hills Art Museum, Japan 
2005         Solo Exhibition - 34 Long, Cape Town
National Museum of Art, USA
Yokohama Triennale, Japan
Museum of Fine Art, Houstin, Texas, USA
Arts of Africa, Grimaldi Forum, Monaco - France
Project Row Houses, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Texas
Contemporary South African Art, Pretoria Art Museum
Contemporary South African Art, Johannesburg Art Gallery
Galleria Spacia, Italy
South Africa - US Native American Exchange Project,  Institute of American Indian Arts - Sante FE, NM.
2004         Contemporary South African Art, Museum Bochum, Germany
New Orleans Jazz Festival South Africa Stage
2003          Dentro e Fuori le Mura, Fabbrica Eos, Milano, Italy
2003         First Solo Exhibition in South Africa, UCT Irma Stern Museum, Cape Town, South Africa
2002         Passport from S.Africa, Centro Culturale "Trevi", Bolzano
Knysna Fine Art Gallery, Knysna
2001         Arte Africana contemporanea, Galleria d'arte Spazia, Bologna, Italy
Galleria Cavellini, Brescia, Italy
South Africa Today, The Helsinki Fair Centre, Finland
2000         5th Biennale of Contemporary Art in Lyons, France
Dialogue of cultures, EXPO 2000, Hannover, Germany
1999          <<REWIND>>FAST FORWARD, Van Reekum Museum, Appeldoorn, Netherlands
1998         Musée des Arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie, Paris France
Africa Africa, Tobu Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan
1997         York College Art Gallery, Pennsylvania, USA
Ndebele Images Then and Now, National Arts Club, New York, USA
Oog op Zuidelijke Afrika, Berg en Dal, Holland
Portal to America, Installation, Spoleto Festival, Charelstown, South Carolina, USA
African Immigrant Folklife Festival, Washington D.C., USA
Exhibit Gallery, Philadelphia, USA
Mural for National Museum of Woman in the Arts, Washington D.C., USA
Ndebele Images Then and Now, National Arts Club, New York, USA
1996         Parish Gallery - Georgetown, Washington D.C., USA
Exhibition for the Congressional Black Caucus, Washington, D.C., USA
Armour J. Blackburn Centre, Howard University, Washington, D.C., USA
World Bank, Washington, D.C., USA
Mural - Ministry of Finance Building, Pretoria, South Africa
Mural - Alexandra Township Stadium, Johannesburg
1995         BMW Art Car and paintings Exhibition, Sydney, Australia
Group show, Market Theatre, Johannesburg
1994         BMW Art Car Collection, National Museum of Woman in the Arts, Washington D.C., USA
Mural for National Museum of Woman in Arts, Washington D.C., USA
Mural - Ndebele College of Education, Kwandebele, South Africa
Mural - African Festival, Lisbon, Portugal
Mural - European Inventive Business Travel Meetings Exhibition, Geneva, Switzerland
Out of Africa, Musée des Beaux Arts de Nantes, France
1993         Painted Pillars in Art Gallery, Nantes, France
1992         Fire Screen, Civic Theatre, Johannesburg
BMW Art Car, Documentra 9, Kassel, Germany
Africa Hoy, Groninger Museum, Holland
Africa Hoy, Cultural Centre of Contemporary Art, Mexico City, Mexico 
Comme des Garçons, Tokyo, Japan; New York, USA and Paris, France
Out of Africa, Gallery Saatchi, London, UK
1991         BMW Art Car, Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town
Painting Columns in Building, Tokyo, Japan
Ny Afrikansk Billed Kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark
Caravan( trailer ) Auto Show, Lavante, Paris, France
European Inventive Business Travel Meetings Exhibition, Lisboa, Portugal
Geneva International Exhibition, Geneva, Switzerland
Fashion Collection, Tokyo, Japan
Africa Hoy, Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderna, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
1990         Caravan ( trailer ) Auto Show, Lavante, France
Bordeaux Festival, Bordeaux, France
Mural Painting, Rosebank Shopping Centre, South Africa 
Mural Painting, Johannesburg School, South Africa  
1989         Group show, Centre de la Villette, Paris, France
Les Magiciens de la Terre, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Fine Arts Museum, Angouleme, France
Mural Painting, Musée des Beaux Arts – Museum for African Art, Paris, France

Awards:
2006         The Order of Ikhamanga, Silver - Government of South Africa
2001         Arts and Culture Award,  Art Promotion
2001         Pan African Broadcasting, Heritage and Achievement Award
2001          Radio Ndebele Award
1999          Mpumalanga Arts and Culture Award
1997         Nassau County, NY, USA,  Commondation
1997         Village of Hampstead, NY, USA Citation
1997         Ministry of Culture and Communication, Centre de la Villette, France
1996         Mpumalanga Premiers Award
1988         Radio Ndebele Award

Collections:
Virginia Museum of Fine Art, USA
Meulensteen Art Museum, Bratislava
Johnnic Communications Management Services Collection, Johannesburg
Museée National d'art Modrene, Centre Pompidou, France
National Gallery, Cape Town
Musée des Arts d'Afrique et Océanie, Paris, France
Bothabelo Museum, South Africa
BMW Car Collection, Germany
RE:CM Collection, Cape Town
Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria
Musee des Arts d’Afrique et d’Oceanie, Paris, France
Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria, South Africa
Museum Bochum, Bochum, Germany
Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum, Bratislava, Slovakia
Botshabelo Museum, South Africa
World Bank Collection, USA
BHP Billiton Collection, Johannesburg, South Africa
BOE Bank, Cape Town, South Africa
Esther's work is also in numerous private collections in South Africa and abroad
 
Publications: (info. provided by www.vgallery.co.za)
Courtney-Clarke, M. 1986. Ndebele. London: Thames & Hudson. Reprinted in 2002. (ISBN 0-500-28387-7)
Loots, AG and De Jager, FR. 2003. Esther Mahlangu. Cape Town: Vgallery. (ISBN 0-620-30600-9)
Magnin, A and Soulillou, J. 1996. Contemporary Art of Africa.  London: Thames & Hudson. (ISBN 0-500-01713-1)
Magubane, P. and Klopper, S. 2001. African Heritage, Arts and Crafts. Cape Town : Struik. ( ISBN 1868725162) 
Magubane, P. and Klopper, S. 2001. African Heritage. Cape Town: Struik. (ISBN 1 86872583 9)
Mountain, A. 1995. Ndebele Artist Nation. Indaba, Mini Curio. Cape Town: Struik. (ISBN 1 86825848 3)
Parise, A. 2010. Esther Mahlangu La Regina d'Africa, Sarenco Foundation, Italy
Steeds, L & Others. 2013, Making Art Global ( Part 2 ), 'Magiciens dela Terre' 1989, Afterall Books, London : ( ISBN 978-1-84638-118-8
Grenier, C. Modernites plurielles 1905-1970, Centre Pompidou : ( ISBN 9-782844 26622 4)
2008
Kauffman, Kyle D. ESTHER MAHLANGU: REACQUIRING (exhibition catalogue). Kyle Kauffman Gallery: New York, NY
2007
Friedman, Hazel, ‘Esther Mahlangu’, ArtSouthAfrica, v.6.2, November
‘I Color dell’Africa’. La Stampa, August 11
Magnin, A. [Curator]. WHY AFRICA? THE PIGOZZI COLLECTION (ex.cat.), Electa: Milan, Italy
‘Why africa?’, Artdaily.org, August 30
2006
Bernard, Herman. GEE’S BEND THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE QUILT. Tinwood Books: Atlanta, GA
Kotze, Petro, ‘Mpumalunga honours its brave heroes’, Lowvelder, December 14
[Madeline (L.) & Martin (M.) curators & eds.] PICASSO AND AFRICA, Cape Town, South Africa, pp. 155-156
Pigozzi, J & Magnin, A. 100% AFRICA. (ex.cat.) TF Editores & FMGB Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa, Bilbao, Spain
Turok, K. LIFE AND SOUL, portraits of women who move South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa
2005
AFRICAN ART NOW: Masterpieces from the Jean Pigozzi Collection, (Exhibition Catalogue), pp. 16, 30, 42, 53, 138-41, 205-6, Merrell: London, UK and New York, NY
ARTS OF AFRICA, The Contemporary Collection of Jean Pigozzi, pp. 292-5. Grimaldi Forum: Monaco.
Domino, C. and Magnin, A., ‘L’Art africain contemporain’, pp. 32-37, Editions Scala: Paris, France. pp. 32-7
‘Esther Mahlangu’, Capetowntoday.co.za
Keck, Gayle, ‘In South Africa, a brush with a tradition’, The Los Angeles Times, April 17
Magubane, Peter & Klopper, Sandra. AMANDEBELE. Sunbird Publishing Ltd: Cape Town, South Africa, pp. 144-5
Sischy, Ingrid, ‘Africa in their eyes: from the Collection of Jean Pigozzi’, Vanity Fair, December
2004
Bedform, Emma, A DECADE OF DEMOCRACY: SOUTH AFRICAN ART 1994-2004. Double Storey Books, Iziko: South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa, pp.4
[Golinski (H.G.) et. al. eds.] NEW IDENTITIES, zeitgenossische kunst aus Sudafrika, pp. 180-88, Museum Bochum, Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfildern-Ruit, Germany
Martin, Jean-Hubert, ‘The Reception of African Art’ in AFRICA REMIX (exhibition catalog), pp. 43, Hatje Cantz: Dusseldorf, Germany.
2003
De Jager, FR and Loots, AG. ESTHER MAHALANGU. Vgallery: Cape Town, South Africa
Pleasant, Amelia. ‘At Long Last: Esther Mahlangu Stands Alone’, ArtThrob, December
2002
Marshall, Sabine. ‘Sites of identity and resistance: urban community murals and rural wall decoration in South Africa’, African Arts, September 22
UBUNTU: ARTS ET CULTURES D’AFRIQUE DU SUD (ex.cat.) Musee National des Arts d’Afrique et d’Oceanie, Paris, France
2001
AFRICA AFRICA Vibrant New Art from a Dynamic Continent (ex.cat.), Published and Edited by The Tobu Museum of Art. Tokyo, Japan.
Arte Africana Contemporanea, Contemporary African Art (ex.cat). Publisher: l’Artiere Edizionitalia.
Eisenhofer, Stefan [Ed.] TRACING THE RAINBOW, Arnoldsche: Stuttgart, Germany, p.84
Hoard, Adrienne, ‘The Commodification of Art: Ndebele Women in the Stream of Change’, Cultural Survival Quarterly, Winter, pp. 37-40
Magubane, P and Klopper, S. AFRICAN HERITAGE, ARTS AND CRAFTS. Struik (Pry) Ltd., Cape Town, South Africa
TRIBAL SOUL, METROPOLITAN BODY (ex.cat.). Galleria Spazia: Bologna, Italy, pp. 88-9
Visona, Monica Blackmun et. al. A HISTORY OF ART IN AFRICA, Harry N. Abrams, Incorporated: New York, NY , back cover
2000
Heartney, Eleanor, ‘An Adieu to Cultural Purity’, Art in America, October
Human Sciences Research Council, WOMEN MARCHING INTO THE 21ST CENTURY. HSRC Press: Cape Town, South Africa, p.178
Mack, John [Ed.] AFRICA: ARTS & CULTURE. Oxford University Press: New York, NY, p.196
Magubane, Peter, AFRICAN RENAISSANCE. Struik Publishers Ltd: Cape Town, South Africa: pp. 136-7
Riding, Alan. ‘Arts Abroad’, The New York Times, July 5
1999
[Rabie (B.) curator] <<REWIND>> FAST FORWARD.ZA New Work from South Africa (ex.cat), pp. 59-62, 94, Van Reekum Museum, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands
1997
Geers, Kendell. [Ed.], CONTEMPORARY SOUTH AFRICAN ART: THE GENCOR COLLECTION, Jonathan Bull Publishers (Pty) Ltd: Johannesburg, South Africa
1996
Magnin, A and Soulillou, J. CONTEMPORARY ART OF AFRICA, pp. 13, 16, 46-48, Harry N. Abrams: New York, NY.
1995
Mountain, A. NDEBELE ARTIST NATION. Indaba, Mini Curio. Struik (Pry) Ltd., Cape Town.
Powell, Ivor. NDEBELE. Struik (Pry) Ltd: Cape Town, South Africa.
1994
Duke, L. The living art of Esther Mahlangu, The Washington Post, Sept 4, 1994
1992
Brenson, Michael. ‘Review/Art: Juxtaposing the New From All Over’, The New York Times, May 20
De Jager, EJ, IMAGES OF MAN: CONTEMPORARY SOUTH AFRICAN ART AND ARTISTS. Fort Hare University Press: East London, South Africa, p.196
[Magnin, A.,curator]. AFRICA HOY (ex.cat.), Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain
1989
Alexander, L & Cohen, E. 150 SOUTH AFRICAN PAINTINGS, past and present.
Lewison, Jeremy, ‘Magiciens de la Terre’, Burlington Magazine, Vol. 131, No. 1037, August
MAGICIENS DE LA TERRE. (ex.cat.) Editions du Centre Pompidou, France
1986
Courtney-Clarke, M. 1986. NDEBELE. London: Thames & Hudson.

Francine


copyright Helene Smuts and Africa meets Africa
We visited the homestead and studio of one of the most influential artists in South Africa, Francine Ndimande. Francine passed away a couple of years ago, but her legacy is safely overseen by her family - including daughters Ellen and Joyce - and the Ndebele Foundation, which Francine helped establish.






Iman modeling for Town & Country
This clipping was hanging on Francine's wall. It is from a January 1992 photo shoot for Town & Country magazine. An April 9, 2013 article in T&C's online Family Album, contained this interesting exchange about the photo shoot,

"When two women, Franzina Ndimande and her daughter Angelina, expressed amazement at her high fashion ensembles, Iman explained, 'Well, you paint murals and that's your work. This is mine. I wear clothes and people take my picture. But please, tell me why you paint these houses.' To which Franzina replied, 'It's cultural. Mothers teach daughters. Traditionally we have been a polygamous society, and this style of painting has been both a form of tribal identification and a way to distinguish which house belonged to which wife. You see, each woman has a distinctive style of painting, so by looking at the designs and the colors, anybody passing by would know who lived where.'

Although the Ndebele had been in South Africa for more than a millennium, with so many fleeing to the cities for work, the tradition of painting houses was vanishing. The trip was designed to bring awareness to this endangered traditional art and Iman, at the urging of the photographer Margaret Courtney-Clarke, became the unofficial spokesperson for the campaign."








The family's Roman Catholic faith is evident inside Francine's home

A photograph of Francine in Berlin and her rosary

Francine in Berlin

some of her designs for Eschenbach Porzellan Germany



inspiration was everywhere!
The Ndebele Foundation may be one of Francine's most important legacies. Another one of the founders, the above-mentioned photographer Margaret Courtney-Clarke, was involved with the Ndebele Foundation for more than twenty years.


some illustrious benefactors

Francine's natural pigment murals below and one of her student's work above

canvases for sale into the Foundation's studio

Francine's husband and grandson with Lou & Serge
burial plots inside the cattle kraal.
As the second wife, Francine is buried on the left of the first wife. Francine's husband will be buried on the right of the first wife.












Students studying at the Foundation can stay in dormitories on the grounds.




a dormitory room





a braai