Ndebele Village

An acrylic and paper on canvas work titled, Ndebele Village by the South African artist, Jabulani Sam Nhlengethwa (b. 1955). The artwork depicts a brightly painted traditional South African Ndebele Village. The people in the village are clothed in traditional clothing and the walls of the village huts and structures are decorated with colourful patterns. Cattle or livestock are also shown to be closed off in a cattle pen. Nhlengethwa as an artist is intrigued by South African people and the spaces they move and live in. The artist often pays homage to his favourite contemporaries by means of recreating some of their work in his own style with the purpose to experience these artists works within a different setting. Themes of jazz is also explored within Nhlengethwa work as he was brought up with jazz in his home. Short Biography: Sam Nhlengethwa was born in the mining community of Payneville, Springs in 1955 and grew up in the Ratanda location in Heidelberg, Johannesburg in South Africa. In the late 1970s, Nhlengethwa completed a Fine Art Diploma at the Rorkes Drift Art Centre. Nhlengethwa exhibited extensively both locally and abroad. In 1994, Nhlengethwa won the Standard Bank Young Artist Award. The artist also co-founded the Bag Factory Artists’ Studio with David Koloane in Johannesburg in 1991. The aim of the Bag Factory Artists’ Studio was mainly to provide studio space to black artists, who had little access to artistic resources. The Bag Factory Artists’ Studio is still active today.