Esther Mahlangu - Ndebele painting ambassador

"When I am painting my heart is very wide, it reaches out. It makes me feel very, very happy.”

Esther Mahlangu in front of her house, Mabhoko, South Africa, 1993 (1993)Contemporary African Art Collection - The Jean Pigozzi Collection

Esther Mahlangu (born in 1935, Middeleburg, South Africa) is part of the Ndebele community in the Gauteng, located north of Pretoria. The Ndebele, unlike many other tribes in South Africa, have managed to preserve their centuries’ old ancestral traditions.

Untitled (1991) by Esther MahlanguContemporary African Art Collection - The Jean Pigozzi Collection

Despite being a patriarchal society, artistic heritage is handed down from mother to daughter; as a young woman reaches puberty she withdraws from male society for three months and is taught the ceremonial patterns of Ndebele beadwork

—in the nineteenth century this tradition was extended to decorative wall paintings, also executed exclusively by the Ndebele women.

Esther Mahlangu is an important proponent of this tradition. She draws freehand, without first measuring or sketching, using luminous and high-contrast vinyl paints that lend extraordinary vigor to her murals. While at a glance purely abstract, her compositions are built upon a highly inventive system of signs and symbols.

Mehari (2006) by Esther MahlanguContemporary African Art Collection - The Jean Pigozzi Collection

Mahlangu is the first Ndebele artist to transpose wall paintings onto canvases and to take the conventions of her artwork into the larger arena.

In 1989 she came to Paris to create murals Magiciens de la Terre exhibition, and by agreeing to undertake further commissioned works for public buildings like the Civic Theater of Johannesburg, for museums, for BMW, for Comme des Garçons, Mahlangu has made Ndebele art celebrated world over.

Untitled (1992-02-10) by Esther MahlanguContemporary African Art Collection - The Jean Pigozzi Collection

She has stated: “My mother and grandmother taught me to paint when I was ten years old. I have been busy with it ever since and have always liked it. When I am painting my heart is very wide, it reaches out. It makes me feel very, very happy.”

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
Explore more
Related theme
The Jean Pigozzi Collection
Contemporary African and Japanese art from the Jean Pigozzi Collections.
View theme
Google apps