Msaki has learnt to finesse her art with a fine intuition

A mannequin dressed to exemplify Msaki’s Xhosa heritage and the ancestral resonance of her exhibition, Kuthi Mandithethe: Of Art and Justice. Photo: Supplied

By S’bo Gyre

27 Dec 2024

The multidisciplinary artist talks about her journey to compassion for herself and how this has informed every aspect of her life.

There’s no denying that the memes culture has made life a little more entertaining for us all, particularly on the internet streets. Whether it’s in reference to serious or more light-hearted topics, society always finds a way to squeeze in a chuckle here and there.

The flipside to this is the increase in surface-level discussions and giving them a platform and, in relation to art, a greater reverence for that which is vapid. The memes culture, an art form in itself, perhaps best exemplifies this.

We want things that are easily consumable, even our art, which threatens to diminish what ought to be said or was intended to be said. It is particularly restrictive of the access and reach that art intended to speak to social justice and ills can have.

Msaki has somehow been able to buck this trend.

Her latest solo exhibition, Kuthi Mandithethe: Of Art and Justice, is a return to her roots in fine arts. Meaning “They say I should speak out” in isiXhosa, the songstress and fine artist says the works in the exhibition are “a device to think through the things you want to say”.

Not many people know that it was fine arts that led her to music (she received the Standard Bank Award for Young Artist in Music in 2022), but she has always seen herself as a multidisciplinary thinker and artistic practitioner.

Msaki Deconstructed yet vivid imagery on the walls of the exhibition at the Standard Bank Gallery in Johannesburg. (Photo: Supplied)

“I was a very frustrating student because I just could see in every single medium and I didn’t want to pick one,” she reflects on her days of studying fine arts.

“They’d give me a hard time and say, pick something. Are you a sculptor? Are you drawing? Are you whatever? And I was like, actually, I’m hearing songs.”

However, the stillness required for fine art practices, such as spending hours in darkrooms or working on paintings, created the mental space that led to their musical awakening.

We can thank the gods of art for giving her the range to be the artist she is today and, in her own admission, for surrounding her with contemporaries and mentors such as Zander Blom, Nandipha Mntambo and Neo Muyanga for emboldening her to stretch the sinews of her artistic capabilities.

A sociopolitical multimedia exhibition

Despite this bold exhibition at the famed Standard Bank Gallery in Johannesburg being a homecoming of sorts, she still sees room for growth.

“I’m young in the art world, you know, and I still have to sort of earn my stripes in the visual space so that I can say, this is what I’m trying to say.”

That said, it doesn’t change the validity of what Msaki shares now. The potency of this sociopolitical multimedia exhibition shows a rich understanding and embrace of culture and ancestral resonance. It’s a megaphone through which words once left unsaid throughout generational progress finally find a safe space to relay the message from their sender – our forebears.

“I found the art space, the place of justice. I found that when courtrooms fail, you can raise the question in a song or in an installation,” she says of the exhibition’s broader message.

“The invitation is to take it from our collective shadow, which is why the protest music is there.”

The personal manifestation of the works’ meaning digs deeper into her interpersonal relationships.

“It’s a way to even deal with the guilt when you don’t say what you feel you should have said. That whole self-love of being able to build boundaries and say and not be afraid of communicating and building relationships full of trust when conflict is there.”

All these internal processes have had a profound impact on Msaki’s outlook on life as a whole. Her personal, immediate circumstances have developed to a point where her approach has shifted from pure ambition and zeal to seeking balance, particularly considering family responsibilities and practical limitations.

A mannequin dressed to exemplify Msaki’s Xhosa heritage and the ancestral resonance of her exhibition, Kuthi Mandithethe: Of Art and Justice. (Photo: Supplied)

This has all meant that she has had to recalibrate and restrategise her energy allocation, acknowledging the difficulty in articulating this reasoning while affirming its logic. This exhibition and her show Camagu in Symphony, which took place on 12 December at the SunBet Arena at Time Square in Pretoria, are her last dance before an extension of her hiatus to honour this shift.

In her show, she enjoyed the moment for what it was, especially as she collaborated with a full orchestra.

The serendipitous assembling of an orchestral-like band started when she was working with a late friend and violinist, Ella. How we experience her now is a result of years of honing all aspects of her art.

“I don’t think art is meant to be laboured with muscle. It’s meant to be finessed with intuition. There’s something I’m learning about the give and the take and being a bit more graceful with myself,” she says of the lessons she is learning in this period of her life. “Even as a move through life as an artist, a person in a relationship and a mother – it’s all affecting my practice.”

The effects are seemingly working in her favour as she has surrendered to where she is right now. That has perhaps been the greatest tool she has used to listen, speak – “athethe” – as she has done through her work. Now, she will take her well-deserved rest. DM

Kuthi Mandithethe: Of Art and Justice is on at the Standard Bank Art Gallery until 31 January 2025.

S’Bo Gyre is a rapper and freelance writer.

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.

Categories:

Tags:

DM is much better if you are signed in...

South Africa

A sociopolitical multimedia exhibition