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When South African Ndebele artist Esther Mahlangu
began painting at the tender age of 10, she never
thought that she would get to travel the world just by
doing something that she loved. Mahlangu received
an honorary doctorate from the University of
Johannesburg recently.
"I am so grateful to the university management for the
gifts given to me today. What they have done for me,
they must do for others."
"If heaven was within reach, I would fly. I never
thought that painting would work out so well. I got to
travel the world just by doing something that I did out
of love," she added.
She was accompanied by members of her community, clad in
traditional regalia.
Mahlangu, whose full names are Esther Nikwambi, was born
in Middelburg, Mpumalanga, in 1935.
In an interview with News24 in September, shortly after
she had been honoured with a mural in New York, the
82-year-old said her journey with her love for her
culture and Ndebele artwork began when she was 10 years
old, when she used to watch her mother and grandmother
painting the outside walls of their home.
She longed to join them and when the pair took a break
from painting, she would steal the paint and try her
luck. But, as soon as they returned, she would be out of
sight.
"They always said: 'Don't ever do that again, you are
ruining things,'" she told News24.
The following day, Mahlangu would do it again, and again
she faced the wrath of her matriarchs.
Eventually, her mother and grandmother gave up and
allocated Mahlangu a small space on the wall, which was
away from the public, where she could practice drawing
Ndebele patterns.
¡V Source:
www.news24.co.za |
