Gqeberha

Africa is known for its bold, unapologetic use of colour. Stories are told in pigments, tones and hues; a kaleidoscope as diverse as the cultures and peoples of the continent. For the initiative Colours of Africa, a collaborative project with Google Arts & Culture, we asked 60 African creatives to capture the unique spirit of their country in a colour which represents home to them.

The projects they have created are personal and distinct stories of Africa, put into images, videos, texts and illustrations. Each artist has also attempted to articulate what being African means to their identity and view of the world.

Colour:Weaver Egg Blue
Country:South Africa

Artwork Rationale

My colour discovery journey took place in my hometown, Gqeberha – a coastal city in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Gqeberha is a major seaport and is known for its Blue Flag beaches and a richness of coastal biodiversity. The seaport, which largely sustains the manufacturing and export industries of Gqeberha, and rich coastal biodiversity inspired an interest in cool tones, particularly blue-greens and greys. Coastal plant life, such as Fynbos, has a strong presence within the city and there are many protected natural areas within Nelson Mandela Bay. A prominent component of the coastal plant life in Gqeberha is made up of species which fall under the Leucadendron genus. Various species under this genus have foliage which is blue-grey in colour. Their seeds are sometimes referred to as ‘phoenix seeds’ because of how they respond to the destructive impact of fire, using it as a catalyst for rebirth and further growth.
I wanted to locate a particular colour that could encapsulate the resilience of this plant life and the influence of the ocean and seaport within Gqeberha. I settled on a greenish-blue shade of cyan blue that goes by the name of ‘eggshell blue’ or ‘weaver egg blue’.

The final artwork combines modes of artmaking such as performance art, painting, sculpture, installation as well as photography, to capture and preserve that which would otherwise be fleeting and temporary. Seeds 'inspire' ideas of birth and potential. The work makes use of various silhouettes, details and visual motifs inspired by the ornate outer casing of Leucadendron seeds. I often create work informed by queer ecology, the marriage between environmental symbolism and the somewhat ‘queer aesthetic’ of my work allowed me to create an image that is incongruous and unusual to some – but that draws on the ‘everyday’ and is informed by certain prominent, beloved features of the city.

What it means to be African

Africa is the birthplace of creativity, artistic expression, music, human language – it is the origin of humankind. To be here is to be in awe.

Biography

Luke Rudman is a visual and performance artist from Gqeberha, South Africa. He is a Design Indaba Emerging Creative, class of 2022 – using painting, installation, performance and photography to explore queerness – specifically within the context of the environmentalism, from which queer perspectives have traditionally been absent. Rudman has been a regular collaborator with Greenpeace Africa since 2019. Rudman completed his undergraduate degree – bachelor of visual arts – cum laude, and is currently pursuing his postgraduate qualifications in fine art at Nelson Mandela University.