Lot 98: John Ndevasia Muafangejo, "The First Bishop of Diocese of Namibia"

John Ndevasia Muafangejo (1943 - 1987) was born at Etunda lo Nghadi, Angola in 1943. He grew up in a traditional homestead herding cattle during the day and playing communal and literary games, with their strong moral and philosophical content, with the elders in the evening. This period of his life clearly influenced not only his development as an artist but also the content of his work forming the basis of his strongly autobiographical subject matter. Following the death of his father in 1955 his mother inherited nothing and so moved to a mission station where John joined her in 1957. He converted to Christianity at the age of fourteen and in 1964 attended St Mary's Anglican mission school at Odibo in Namibia where his artistic skills were recognized and arrangements were made for him to train at Rorke's Drift. John Muafangejo remains one of southern Africa’s best-loved artists. As a Kuanyama of the Ovambo people, living on the border between Namibia and Angola, Muafangejo has used the medium of the linocut to address the region’s history of conflict, and the daily tribulations and aspirations of his people. Muafangejo received a formal education at St Mary’s Anglican Mission in Odibo in northern Namibia. In 1967, he was sent by Bishop Mallory to Rorke’s Drift in Durban to study at the famous art school, which later trained the likes of contemporary artists Kay Hassan, Pat Mautloa, Bongi Dhlomo and Sam Nhlengethwa. It was here that the renowned art historian and critic Edward Lucie-Smith encouraged and helped Muafangejo to organize a show of his work in Durban. Muafangejo’s linocuts take the form of densely packed narratives, accompanied by a running commentary clearly identifying themes and figures. Scenes of everyday life from people in both rural and urban environments form the basis of the narratives: women making sourmilk and stamping corn, people going to the hospital, looking after oxen, taking an airplane, getting married. A lifelong religious connection provided Muafangejo with another rich source of material for his work, and his religious pictures range in theme from Bible stories to depictions of contemporary religious leaders like Desmond Tutu. These works however, are often marked by an element of reservation, as Muafangejo struggled between his own religious beliefs and the changes that Christianity had brought to the traditional lifestyles of his people. Concerned with the violence that has plagued his land for centuries, as well as the hardships of his people in the face of apartheid, Muafangejo nevertheless refused to lose hope in reconciliation. One of his most renowned prints, Hope and Optimism in spite of the present difficulties, has inspired a global public art project. Supported by UNESCO and leading cultural institutions around the world, the project has collected submissions from close to one hundred international artists working in the graphic medium. In the spirit of Muafangejo, the project aims to document the current hopes and aspirations of each country in the last decade. Hope and Optimism was also used at the two Wembley concerts of 1988 and 1990 as a 70th birthday tribute to Nelson Mandela. As the concerts were beamed world-wide, millions of people saw and came to recognize Muafangejo’s work as symbolizing the hope and optimism for southern Africa that they all shared. Muafangejo began exhibiting his work as early as 1968, and contributed regularly to the annual shows held at the University of Fort Hare in the Eastern Cape. His work was included in a major group exhibition of South African contemporary art in London in 1969, as well as in a travelling show to Canada in that same year. He was also one of three artists selected to represent South Africa at the prestigious Sao Paulo Biennal in 1972, where he received a special mention. He was shown in Germany, the United States, Finland, Italy, Britain, and South Africa and Namibia before the opening of a major solo exhibition at London’s Royal Festival Hall in 1987. John Muafangejo spent much of the last six months of his life preparing for a major travelling retrospective exhibition to be shown at twelve venues across South Africa and Namibia, sponsored by the Standard Bank Festival of Arts in Grahamstown. Here he was to have received the Guest Artist Award. At the age of 44, John would have been the youngest artist ever to have been awarded this recognition. One month after returning from London, however, Muafangejo died of a massive stroke. His art has inspired many artists and projects around the world which champion peace and reconciliation. In 1988 the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, South Africa, hosted a retrospective exhibition of his work. A second retrospective was held at the Museum of Modern Art at Oxford in England and toured the country between 1990 and 1992. As a result of this he was the subject of a documentary on Channel 4 in 1991 and in 1992 Orde Levinson's 'I was Lonelyness, a Catalogue Raisonne of his Graphic Work' and 'The African Dream, Visions of Love and Sorrow: the Art of John Muafangejo' were both published.

12.5" x 9"

linocut print, edition 11/100

1981

signed and dated