(Photo by Lithemba Nziweni)
Asanda Lusaseni Mvana, professionally known as Msaki, became a household name because her songs motivate, inspire and bring hope to South Africans. The Standard Bank Young Artist for Music returns to Makhanda, a place she associates with trauma, to open her visual arts exhibition, Del’ukufa at the 2023 National Arts Festival.
At the age of six her parents sent her to school in Makhanda.
“I don’t think my parents left me there to hurt me. No, they took me there because they wanted me to get a better life and be educated, but all the experiences that followed were very painful,” Msaki recalls.
Del’ukufa (Dare to Die) features installation, drawings and a series of videos she had previously recorded in Makhanda.
“The process did not take very long, probably a month. I was in Los Angeles when I created these pieces. During the day I would be in the studio recording and later in the day I would be in the studio drawing,” Msaki says.
She hopes she can work hard enough for her music studio to be a few metres from the drawing studio so that her works can flow into each other.
For the National Arts Festival exhibition in the Atherstone Room at the monument, Msaki lit impepho (Helichrysum odoratissimum), an African herb used to communicate with the ancestors. The scent filled the hallways, which is, in a way, an invitation to the exhibition that begins with Msaki using a calabash, water, impepho and a song.
She starts singing Ndiyozilanda (which means I am going to fetch myself) and the crowd joins in, creating a sacred moment.
Afterwards an audience member said: “You know, when ancestors have descended upon you, you have to kneel and show them respect, which is why some of us were on our knees when Msaki was chanting Ndiyozilanda.”
Msaki said the opening of the exhibition felt like the ritual had been carried out. “I feel light, it’s been hectic but today feels like the ritual is complete.”
Msaki will also perform Embo Time Travel Experiment at the Guy Butler Theatre on 30 June 30 and 1 July at Guy Butler Auditorium.