John Muafangejo

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John Ndevasia Muafangejo (born October 5, 1943 in Etunda lo Nghadi, Angola ; † November 27, 1987 in Windhoek , South West Africa , today Namibia ) was a Namibian artist who became internationally known as a printmaker. He created linocuts , woodcuts and etchings .

Life

He came from the Kwanyama (Kuanjama) people who lived in Ovamboland . As a child he looked after cattle barefoot. His father died in 1955, leaving his mother, one of eight wives, with no fortune. His mother converted to Christianity and moved to the Anglican mission station in Epinga, south of the border in Namibia, in 1956. In 1957 she was followed by John Muafangejo and attended the local mission school. At the age of twenty he moved to the Holy Cross Mission School in Onamunama, then to St Mary’s School in Odibo. He stayed there until 1967. An American missionary named CS Mallory supported his artistic talent and helped him apply to the Arts and Craft Center of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Rorke's Drift , Natal in South Africa. The Rorke's Drift Art and Craft Center was founded in 1862 by the Swedes Ulla and Peder Gowenius and played an important role in the development of South African art in the second half of the 20th century. Here Muafangejo came into contact with various artistic techniques, such as weaving, wood carving, painting and ceramics. One of his teachers was Azaria Mbatha (* 1941). He excelled especially in etching and linocut. In 1968 he suffered a nervous breakdown and was treated at Madadeni Hospital in Newcastle for severe depression. After his release, he graduated from Rorke's Drift in 1969. From 1970 to the end of 1974 he worked as an art teacher at the mission school in Odibo. In 1974 he was awarded an artist-in-residence scholarship in Rorke's Drift. He returned to Odibo in 1975 and moved to Windhoek in 1977. 1986–1987 he built a house in the suburb of Katutura . He died suddenly of a heart attack on November 27, 1987.

plant

Mufangejo factory

John Muafangejo is considered the most important visual artist in his country. His linocuts differed in their powerful black-and-white imagery, depicting people and events, from the Namibian art, which specializes in colorful landscapes and animals and is shaped by artists of European origin. They usually have a narrative moment. They often combine texts and images and there is a reference to the history and culture of the Kwanyama. The background to this is Namibia's violent struggle for independence, which was not yet decided during Muafangejo's lifetime. There are only about 260 printed works from him. Three rooms in the National Art Gallery in Windhoek are dedicated to him.

Exhibitions (selection)

  • 1969, Contemporary African Art Exhibition, Camden Arts Center, London
  • 1972, Bienal de São Paulo
  • 1975, Arts Center, Durban (solo exhibition)
  • 1976, Black South Africa: Graphic Art, Brooklyn Museum, New York
  • 1987, Black Art - John Muafangejo and Peter Clarke, IFA Gallery, Bonn
  • 1988, National Arts Festival , Grahamstown (retrospective)

literature

  • Bruce Arnott: John Muafangejo: linocuts, woodcuts and etchings. Linocuts, woodcuts and etchings . Struik, Cape Town / Johannesburg 1977.
  • Theo Sundermeier : Hope for Namibia: Linocuts by John Ndevasia Muafangejo. Luther-Verlag, Bielefeld 1991.
  • Orde Levinson: I was lonelyness. The complete graphic works of John Muafangejo: a catalog raisonné 1968–1987. Struik Winchester, Cape Town 1992.
  • Orde Levinson: The African Dream. Visions of love and sorrow: the Art of John Muafangejo. Thames and Hudson, London 1992.
  • Brenda Danilowitz: John Muafangejo picturing history. In: African arts . vol. 26, no. 2 (1993), pp. 46-57, 92-94.
  • John N. Muafangejo (1943–1987): Linocuts from the collection of the National Art Gallery of Namibia: Forum for Cultural Exchange, Institute for Foreign Relations Stuttgart, January 26 to March 27, 1994. Catalog, text: Annaleen Eins. Stuttgart 1994.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ South African History Online
  2. ↑ Anene Ejikeme: Culture and customs of Namibia . Greenwood, Santa Barbara 2011, pp. 76-78
  3. ↑ A list of his exhibitions up to 1988 is in Collin Cole: John N. Muafangejo 1943-1987 a perspective on his lino-cuts . 1993 MA Thesis, pp. 77–81 Rhodes University Zaire ( Memento of the original from June 2, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / contentpro.seals.ac.za
personal data
SURNAME Muafangejo, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Muafangej, John Ndevasia (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Namibian artist
DATE OF BIRTH October 5, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Etunda lo Nghadi , Ovamboland , Angola
DATE OF DEATH November 27, 1987
Place of death Katutura , Windhoek