16 November 2007
In the year 2000 the National Department of Arts and Culture invested funds
towards the construction of an arts and crafts studio at Noria Mabasa's
homestead in Venda.
Mabasa is a world renowned potter and wood sculptor, as well as a recipient
of the 2002 Silver category of the Order of the Baobab. She has also received
several other national and international accolades and awards for her
outstanding artistry and creativity.
Born in 1938 in Xigulu, near Venda, Noria spent a period in the early 50s
living in Soweto before returning to Venda. She now lives in Vuwani on the
banks of the Levubu River in Limpopo province. With no formal training, Noria's
work is shaped by her own natural talent. She uses clay, gathered from the
river near her home, and wood washed down by floods, as her materials. Through
an art school that she established, Noria transfers her skills in clay
pot-making and sculpture to her students. She started working in clay in the
early 1970s, depicting traditional culture and incorporating themes from the
local Domba initiation practice for girls in her clay sculptures.
Motivated by a series of dreams in which her ancestors spoke to her, she
turned to wood as her medium. In the process she broke cultural and gender
stereotypes and became the first Venda woman to work with wood, that material
having been the preserve of male sculptors up till then. She had a dream of an
old woman instructing her on how to work with wood.
Noria exhibited locally and abroad and her works, which range in scope from
little African pots to clay figures, to Ngoma Lungundu sacred drums, to massive
tableaux carved entirely from wood and which completely dominate their
surroundings are found in many private, public and corporate collections.
Noria's clays figures are mostly portrayals of real people such as
clergymen, policemen, soldiers or bureaucrats, while the wood pieces often
represent her personal dreams or Venda folklore or a combination of both. With
the shift to using wood Noria began to use more contemporary themes in her
work. Rich in humour and dignity, many of her works depict women in various
poses, sometimes in relation to men or performing different daily duties or
looking after children.
The Department of Arts and Culture's investment was necessitated by a
combination of the need Mabasa had for a working space, as well as the
imperative of ensuring that she is provided with a vehicle for her to pass on
her knowledge and skill. As such the dream for Vhutsila a vhu Tibiwi, Arts and
Crafts Studio was born. Vhutsila a vhu tibiwi is a Tshi-Venda expression to
teach that a custodian of knowledge should not take the knowledge with them to
the grave without taking opportunity to pass it on for the benefit of
posterity.
Noria is one of South Africa's valuable living treasures, custodian of
indigenous knowledge and a great teacher who willingly shares her knowledge and
skills. The construction of the studio has been completed and it is indeed an
impressive infrastructure which will provide for a gallery space, and other
spaces for training, production, meetings and storage. The Deputy Minister of
Arts and Culture, Ntombazana Botha, will officially open the Vhutsila a vhu
Tibiwi Arts and Crafts Studio on 26 November 2007 at Noria's homestead, Vuwani,
Venda at 10h00.
Enquiries:
Mack Lewele
Tel: 012 441 3083
Cell: 082 450 5076
Issued by: Department of Arts and Culture
16 November 2007
