Preserving their culture while promoting their heritage, a group of King William’s Town artists illustrated Xhosa history and iconic historical figures with a photographic exhibition at The Mall on Saturday.
Xhosa legends from as far back as the 1800s were recreated in pictures by local models.
The project, organised by Kwanda Collective, gave shoppers an opportunity to see how the likes of Xhosa novelist SE Mqhayi, military commander during the sixth and eight Xhosa wars Chief Maqoma and prophet Nongqawuse would have looked in modern-day society.
The artists have spent more than a year visiting the actual places where the historical figures lived.
“We did a lot of research on this. We went and took the pictures in the areas where they lived, so it could be authentic.
“We are putting up this public display so we can educate and bring this information to the public,” said group leader and fashion designer Yanga Mgabadeli.
The exhibition served as a lead-up to Heritage Day celebrations on Monday.
Mgabadeli said they wanted to include other black cultural and historical figures, not just those of AmaXhosa.
“There is still a lot that is missing from our history. We want to take this further and collaborate with other people who can help us develop.
“We are bringing icons of history and culture from the1800s and 1900s, reimagining them with the hope that black history will come alive for young people. We are trying to reflect back and celebrate their names aside from political leaders,” Mgabadeli said.
Photographer Kwanele Mboso said the aim of the exhibition was to preserve Xhosa culture through art.
“Our history is not readily available. We do not have our own narration as black people; even some of the books about us are written by white people.
“Our culture needs our own narrative because in some of the books the stories are not told accurately. We want to create a new way of how we look at our past heroes,” he said.
“Sometimes what is said by our elders and what is in books, are contradictory. We need to retell our own stories and that is what we are doing with these illustrations.”
Monalisa Sakhwe, who modelled as Nongqawuse, said: “As the youth we need to put more effort into heritage so we can know where we come from and know our roots.
“This was a beautiful experience to relive Nongqawuse. Reading about her made it easy to model the different emotions she must have been going through at the time.”
Anele Mtsolo said portraying Maqoma helped him to reconnect with his heritage.
“Maqoma fought for the land with an axe and that showed me that a black person really fights hard for what they believe is theirs.
“This history needs to be taught more in our schools.”
A young shopper in the mall, Athini Kwelani, said she gained new knowledge from the exhibition.
“I like how they teach us about our history in such a fun and modern way. This will reignite an interest from us as young people to want to learn more about our culture.”
Another shopper, Mziwamadoda Ganyaza, said documenting stories could help avoid discrepancies in history. “Our main problem was that we never wrote or recorded our culture. Our children are now better educated and they can keep track and inform those who will live after them about their roots.”..