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somdyala · 2 years

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Scorched Earth I, 2022

Karoo Clay, red ochre, red oxide & ash on canvas

92X112CM

#Scorched Earth Tactics #One Hundred Years War #1779-1879 #The Land Wars #The Tragedy of the Xhosa People #The Dead Will Arise #ILIZWE LIFILE #AMAQABA #WHATIFTHEWORLD #Reservoir Projects #Inga Somdyala #contemporary art #south africa

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somdyala · 2 years

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Scorched Earth II, 2022

Karoo Clay, red ochre, red oxide & ash on canvas

92X112CM

#Scorched Earth Tactics #Frontier Wars #Colonial Conquest #One Hundred Years War #1779-1879 #Unsettled #AMAQABA #Inga Somdyala #Contemporary Art #South Africa

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somdyala · 5 years

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AMAQABA: Vol. 1

The title of the show derives from an old term that has found a 'new' meaning in recent times. The term 'i-qaba' (pl: ama-qaba) originates from the 18th Century when British missionaries were affecting the way of living for amaXhosa. Amongst this transformation of native people into European education through evangelical religion, a transformation which included how people dress, there was resistance from some amaXhosa who decided against this assimilation of westernisation and chose to uphold traditions kwaXhosa. The people who continued to use the red ochre, for which amaXhosa were known as 'The Red Blanket People', which is applied to skin by rubbing or 'uku-qaba' in isiXhosa, were considered 'uncivilised'. Hence the term 'i-qaba', which exists in modern times as an insult towards someone who is considered ignorant.

The idea of the show becomes an investigtion of oneself within their own culture; for us, being amaXhosa. The space becomes a space of learning and manipulation of knowledge, tradition, and customs. The way we intend to manipulate these themes is to reimagine and re-examine certain knowledge we have and don't have about ourselves and our culture. It’s a free space where we can be amaqaba without it having any negative connotations associated with it. It’s a claiming of the term where it's okay to not be fully intact with your roots and embrace fluid black identities. It's a chance for us to mock ourselves in a critical sense, but more importantly, a chance to learn about ourselves.

#Inga Somdyala #Xhanti Zwelendaba #AMAQABA #Collaborative Exhibition #fine art installation #contemporary sculpture #south africa

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somdyala · 2 years

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The Deep History, The Long Past III, 2019

Ochre, charcoal and soil on cotton paper

70.5 X 50.5 CM

#ILIZWE LIFILE #The Ochre People #Native Life in South Africa #The Heart of Redness #AMAQABA

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somdyala · 2 years

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Umbhaco Interior I, 2021

Most recently I have been working with the ‘traditional’ isiXhosa fabric iBhayi, commonly known for its use in making Umbhaco, a Xhosa dress style worn by women and men. What constitutes ‘tradition’ is part of what I’m looking for. I made a window treatment using ibhayi as a decorative and contemplative object. I wanted to expand the idea of umbhaco to ‘dress’ or treat a bare space and draw the eye to this voluptuous, sensual piece of fabric. I wanted to speak to the personality or character of (Cape Dutch) interiors to evoke an embodied home, and a sense of our acculturated history in South Africa. Further, this object is in relation to the window, as a way of prompting the perspective of being inside looking out.

IS

#Inga Somdyala #soft sculpture #giclee print #umbhaco #Xhosa dress #AMAQABA

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somdyala · 5 years

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