Bongani Mashange: Stellenbosch University. Selected Graduate 2019

Article / Artists JplusAward SelectedGraduate2019 EmergingValues

Published: 25.07.2019

Bongani Mashange

Author:: Universiteit Stellenbosch University

Edited by:: Klimt02

Edited at:: Barcelona

Edited on:: 2019

Bongani Mashange
Brooch: Hybrid Brooch 1, 2018
Sterling silver, resin, wild olive wood.
Photo by: Hjalmar Bekker
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

In this Body of work, Bongani Mashange uses jewellery design in order to interrogate his own HYBRID identity. Bongani relies on his own cultural identity in order to address and visualize issues of xenophobia, multiculturalism, place and displacement. He creates jewellery pieces and sculptural pieces that talk about these topical and complex issues of identity that young Zimbabwean’s currently face. Bongani is inspired by African relics that relates to his own identity. In his work, he reinvents these relics in an innovative way, through the use of a diverse range of materials, such as wood, silver, resin and more. The work he has done in terms of his practical discipline, as a jewellery designer, as well as the conceptual motivation for this body of work, deserves to be recognized.
/ Joani Groenewald

Universiteit Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

My work examines my personal, cultural experiences as a black Zimbabwean - a black Zimbabwean raised in both a traditional African setting and a modern more globalized setting (1). I utilize visual representations that illustrate my multi-cultural influences as a whole as a means of expressing my interculturality (2). My body of work is in celebration of my identity, and it seeks to investigate whether such influences are generative of hybrid art jewellery.

I am a product of Shona, Ndebele and various western and other cultural influences. As a black Zimbabwean, I identify myself as being both Shona and Ndebele. In Zimbabwe, the indigenous ethnic groups have been heavily influenced by western culture, beliefs, and practices. Nevertheless, I am well informed in regards to my African heritage, culture, and beliefs. My jewellery pieces are motivated by my Shona, Ndebele, and other cultural influences. Therefore, finding a medium of incorporating all of these cultures together is critical as they are seen as different. Due to there being a lot of intercultural differences, I refuse to convey my whole identity with a single entity but rather my pieces will represent the intersectionality of my cultural influences. The premise of my research will be based on the concept of hybridity (3).

More work and contacts:
Email: mashange@hotmail.co.uk
Phone number: +263773266172; +27787510987

Find out more about the courses at Universiteit Stellenbosch University.

References

1. Globalized setting- It is not correct for me to say the schooling setup is of a western standard, particularly in this current time. Through colonialism, from as far as the 15^th century to the present, The era of modernity has been the era of globalization. I can no longer talk about these institutions as western, for it has become a global phenomenon.
2. Interculturality- referring to a person belonging to more than one culture, or having an overlap of cultures.
3. Hybridity- referring to Homi K. Bhabha cited in Anthony Easthope's article Bhabha, hybridity, and identity (1998), and his term of “cultural hybridity”. This term is seen as the formation of a "transcultural" implying or relating to more than one culture within a social space where cultures collide or come together. My research is interested in the form of hybridity which brings two or more cultures together.

Bongani Mashange
Brooch: Hybrid Brooch 2, 2018
Sterling silver, resin, Jelutong.
Photo by: Hjalmar Bekker
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Bongani Mashange
Brooch: Hybrid Brooch 3, 2018
Wenge wood, sterling silver.
Photo by: Hjalmar Bekker
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Bongani Mashange
Brooch: Hybrid Brooch 4, 2018
Sterling silver, resin, Jelutong.
Photo by: Hjalmar Bekker
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Bongani Mashange
Neckpiece: Hybrid Pendant 4, 2018
Wood, resin, leather, quartz, silver.
10 x 7 cm
Photo by: Hjalmar Bekker
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Bongani Mashange
Pendant: Hybrid Pendant 5, 2018
Wenge wood, sterling silver, cubic zirconia, smokey quartz, leather.
Photo by: Hjalmar Bekker
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Bongani Mashange
Neckpiece: Hybrid Neckpiece 2, 2018
Fine Silver, resin, leather, PPC cement.
17 x 5 x 70 cm
Photo by: Hjalmar Bekker
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.