Retrospective: Curator’s Statement

It is a pleasure to me personally and professionally to finally see this exhibition hanging on the wall. It has been a daunting task to put together this exhibition. If not for my experience with major national exhibitions, I would have given up years ago. Negative forces also played a major role in making the process a hard one, but encouragement, counselling and support from Dr Ronald Dorris gave me strength and will to fight to the finish. Dr Dorris is Drexel Society Class of '58, Professor of African American Studies and Professor of English at Xavier University, New Orleans, United States of America. Initially, I met him in 2000 along with five other African Americans who had been chosen to go to the United States and were aligned with me and 23 other individuals from South Africa. Dr Dorris has been my teacher, mentor, brother and advisor since then. He has made me realise my potential fully.

Prince Dube has brought to fruition a monumental task. For several years he has been in search of Dumile Feni. His trek has taken him across South Africa from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, and then to London, Los Angeles, New York, New Orleans and Boca Raton, Florida. Each step along the way he has grown stronger, feeding off the strength of the spirit that is Dumile. Like Dumile, in bringing this project to fruition Dube has remained one with the people. For the last leg of his journey, to sign his own signature in the universe with deliverance of this project, Dube traversed the course of the mighty Mississippi River, following the trail and the tears of scores of Africans taken out the Motherland long ago. Here Dube was able to touch base with others who know those who knew Dumile.

- Dr Ronald Dorris

I developed a purposeful interest in Dumile Feni after a meeting with his best friend Moeletsi Mbeki and his daughter Marriam Diale. We discussed the potential to curate and host Dumile’s exhibition at the Johannesburg Art Gallery, and to write his biography. After digging into his life and works, I decided to dedicate time and energy to the project. During my investigation into the origins and meaning of his works, it became apparent that we were ignoring an icon of our history. It is clear that Dumile was one of the greater artists who surfaced in modern art in Africa. His contribution to cultural and intellectual history, strengthened by his South African heritage and reinforced and complemented by worldly experience, secures his work as a foundation of South African Art.

Dumile’s projection of distorted figures, choice of material, the use of line, colour and metaphor convey thorough knowledge of tradition and exploratory thinking. To touch base with purpose and focus in his life and work, three avenues need to be explored. The first step involves establishing a meaningful critical context in which to see the social conditions in which he produced his work. The second, probably most difficult step, calls for determining reference to contextualize the spiritual dimension of Dumile’s work. The last but not least step involves an attempt to place Dumile and his work in the world of art history.

Dumile’s extraordinary talent has been overlooked despite his contribution to the twentieth century art and his years of active work produced in South Africa, England and the United States of America. The innovative artistic evolution of Dumile serves as testimony to his spiritual consciousness, skills and creative energy.

This project encompasses an effort to place Dumile and his work in historical perspective. The idea for this project was spearheaded at a critical moment when we were celebrating ten years of democracy, for which Dumile fought but never enjoyed. Correspondingly, the Johannesburg Art Gallery holds a comprehensive retrospective of Dumile’s work, for which I serve as curator. Given the amount of new information that surfaced, and the advice of experts in this field, a critical decision to publish a book independent of the exhibition eventually was established. Of course, a full catalogue accompanying the exhibition is to be published. Initially, the Gallery supported the initiative of a catalogue, later annulled this idea and then finally followed through on the idea to produce a catalogue. The Gallery had argued that the book would be enough to accompany the exhibition. 

The Johannesburg Art Gallery prides itself for the role it played in organizing the first truly comprehensive exhibition honouring Dumile’s contribution to the art world. Indeed putting together an exhibition that featured the calibre of Dumile’s work was a complex task that required intensive international cooperation on different levels. Credit for the exhibition is due to the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund which its generous funding made it possible for us to engage in a meaningful exercise. The Department of Arts and Culture also joined forces with the Gallery to make sure that the project succeeds. Additional sponsorship was received from the MTN Foundation.

Placing Dumile and his work in historical perspective should help humanity to forge a broader international coalition to bring disparate races together in common determination to contribute to a more just and humane society. This cannot be achieved if we hide and pretend that life is normal and that people politically defined on the basis of race develop mutual understanding and form a common bond. Relative to the inhumanity of some humans to others, well do we know the problem that persists.

Before leaving South Africa for exile in 1968, Dumile already was a successful artist. Consider newspaper headlines and articles that show him as the beneficiary of tremendous media coverage: Success for young African Artist; He rose from dead to become a genius; Top artists flock to shake his hand; Suaveness and finesse in Dumile drawings; Dumile in the News Again; Dumile Show in Durban; Suffering’ theme of African’s Durban art exhibition; Jong kunstenaars se werke is opwinded; Sensasie-kuns, maar groot talent; Dumile-kuns praat met waarnemer; Dumile, begaafd natuurtalent.

A cursory glance at Dumile’s work encourages thought about international names such as Daumier, Goya, Bosch and Breughel, yet his own style is convincingly Dumile. His artistic images evoke humour, laughter and tears at the same time. At the opening of his third solo exhibition at Gallery 101, Dumile commented, “I don’t want to be the greatest artist in the country, or greatest sculptor, but I want to be able to say the things that are in my heart and in my mind.” Hence Dumile faced the art world on his own terms. 

Dumile’s life and work reads like the history of South Africa. One grows to understand social, economic and political life in both segregated black areas called townships and white only suburbs. My intent is not for this exhibition to provide a biographical account about Dumile, but to serve as a vehicle that contributes to the research relative to the sojourn of a South African artist. This exhibition is central to showing how Dumile’s artistic development, among other experience, can be seen as social commentary about what was happening in the South African art world at a particular time and place.

Contact:

Exhibition information: 
Johannesburg Art Gallery
Clive Kellner
Tel (011) 725 3130 
Fax (011) 720 6000

Website project: 
South African History Online
Tel (012) 481 2833
Fax (012) 481 2831 
Omar Badsha (CEO) email 
Lars Liedberg (web dev.) email