Ndebele Advancine

“I am because we are.” (Archbishop Desmond Tutu)

Equality is not a static goal which can be achieved only by reaching milestones. It is an eternal process in which all people must first and foremost learn to know and respect themselves as individuals.
At the same time, only in recognition of the self, as part of a whole humanity, can true self-respect grow.
Only in respecting the dignity of the other, can one’s own dignity be preserved.

Ndebele Advancine is a tribute to the South African Ndebele women. They preserved and protected their self-respect through their colourful symbolic house paintings, passing on their identity and messages of resistance in symbols during their oppression.

The symbols represent some basic principles of the “Ubuntu” philosophy of life, such as self-respect, empathy, diversity, forgiveness, love, spirituality and hope.

My Ndebele artwork is, similar to mandalas in other cultures, a kind of stocktaking and reflection. Symbolic arrangement, colouring and rhythm happen spontaneously. The symbols are partly recognisable and known, partly developed by me and secret. Through repeated symmetry I express the processual in the struggle for equality.