Broadcast DetailsShow: Head Wrap IIEpisode Title: Drums and Latex
Date: Thursday, 17 August, 2006
Time: 18h30
Channel: SABC 1
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The Head Wrap Challenge
A young urban conceptual artist, Nicholas Hlobo, who is famed for his work with non-traditional materials such as rubber and silicone is challenged to collaborate with the eccentric and acclaimed performance artist and sculptor Samson Mudzunga.
Can these two diametrically opposed artists find common ground?
Nicholas Hlobo
Nicholas Hlobo forces you to look with new eyes. He sees meaning in everything that surrounds him. He interprets every texture, every sound and every shape with enquiring insight.
Hlobo has an affinity for non-traditional materials - rubber inner tubes, leather, ribbons, soap and found objects making frequent appearances in his work, which explores Xhosa traditions, race and identity and homosexuality.
Born in Cape Town in 1975, but with strong links to the Eastern Cape, he is an urban creature who celebrates the confusion of the inner city of Johannesburg that he has made his home.
“I love the energy of Berea, the mix of cultures. We live in a beautifully renovated Victorian home, but across the road from us are squats and a rehab center, next-door is a brothel and we are the queers in the middle.
"I am an urban artist but I have strong links with my cultural identity. I think it will be interesting to see what an older artist like Samson Madzunga will think of my work, my sexual orientation and my use of non-traditional materials.”
Samson Mudzunga
Samson Mudzunga is a man who makes his dreams real. With his artwork incorporated into his homestead he has created a magical world set against the slopes of the Soutpansberg Mountain Range in the small village of Dopeni just outside Makhado (Louis Trichaardt).
On entering his rondaveled property the first thing you see is a sign that inappropriately reads Fududzi Airport. This encapsulates the man who does not live according to convention but challenges the natural world through his work .The sacred Lake Fududzi about an hour into the mountains is where Samson Mudzunga draws his strength from.
The work of performance artist, drum-maker and sculptor Samson Mudzunga has been widely acclaimed in recent years.
“I do not believe I can be labeled as a traditional artist. Yes I make drums, but my drums are also coffins that lead into another world. The people here call me mad and don’t understand what I am doing, but they know me overseas. I can work with this young man as long as he is a hard worker. I will show him the ways of the Venda.”