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Durban is currently enjoying the fruits of a cultural exchange with Stuttgart. Suzy Bell samples the fare on offer
With five high-impact international/local collaborative exhibitions taking place in Durban this month, there’s a whole lot more than surfing going down in tranquil Tegweni.
Durban Meets Stuttgart is a cultural exchange programme between the two cities, now in its second phase. Last year KwaZulu-Natal artists collaborated with artists in Germany and this year five art galleries in Durban are being graced with the fruits of cross- continental dialogue.
The project is jointly co-ordinated by John Roome, a painting lecturer at Technikon Natal, the Department of Culture of the City of Stuttgart and the Association of Fine Arts, Wurttemburg.
One of the KwaZulu-Natal artists to look out for at the Durban Art Gallery is Nhlanhla Ben Nsusha, a visionary lecturer in the sculpture department at the University of Durban-Westville. Nsusha’s CV makes for a damn good read: from a job at the Escort bacon factory in the early Seventies he leapt to the Slade College of Art at London University to getting his BA honours at the Chelsea School of Art. Nsusha is now a widely celebrated artist, having exhibited in New York, Australia, London, Germany, Zululand and Soweto.
Since starting work on his latest sculpture, he’s become a vitamin junkie and greeted numerous Durban dawns. “Sometimes I just sleep two hours during the day then hold a lecture and continue working,” explains a surprisingly bright-eyed Nsusha, who has succeeded in creating a sublimely timeless piece of multi-media art. Man on the Chair is a celebration of form that sings with joy.
Nsusha’s subject is a disabled man careering down an imaginary hill in a vibrantly painted wheelchair. His tie is being whipped back by the wind and his hands are dancing in the air as he smiles broadly listening to the radio nestled at his ear, blaring with buouyant township jive.
“I’m busy setting up the electronics. I’m going to put flashing headlights, indicators and maybe a glass panel on his lap so the viewer can see all the electronic detail,” explains Nsusha. “This work is about empowerment for the disabled person. Disabled people do not want you to pity them, they want to feel normal. This sculpture liberates the spirit of the disabled person.”
The incredible attention to detail in Nsusha’s work is deeply inspiring. He has crafted each delicate metal shirt button, and even woven the wheels with colourful telephone wire that echoes the expert technique that local women artists use to create mbenges (wire baskets). Nsusha is a highly resourceful artist who has made inspired use of a collection of found objects together with wood, metal, leather strips and canvas.
His technique has fascinated the visiting German artists. “At first they thought it was a bit of a nightmare as they usually buy their materials, but we explained how we can’t always afford to, so we have to move around and collect things … Like this wheel on this sculpture comes from an old hose-pipe reel and it’s perfect for my art piece.
“Even after the riots in 1976 in Soweto there were lots of cars burnt, and the Soweto scrapyard was the place I used to find most of my metal to create sculptures. I used to take an axe and hack off pieces of car doors and bonnets. But what’s great is that now the German artists have embraced the idea of collecting found objects to create art and we too are learning from them.”
Along with Nsusha’s works, currently on show at the Durban Art Gallery, you can view works by local artists Suzanne Bothma Hale, Jos Ferreira, Stavros Georgiades, Sibusiso Maphumalo and Nancy Thomson together with works on paper by 25 Stuttgart artists. Music concerts featuring compositions out of Stuttgart performed by local musicians will also be happening at the gallery.
The Technikon Natal Gallery is featuring collaborative work by Durban artists and German sculptor Ingrid Hatlieb. Local artists and Susanne Messerschmidt exhibit at the Bat Centre’s Mezzanine Gallery. At the University of Durban- Westville German sculptor Helga Schumacher collaborates with Durban artists. This Sunday (August 16) sees the opening of Angelika Flaig’s African Plant series together with performance art and an installation by Ferreira.
The Stuttgart Meets Durban project runs until September 13.