Source work:
0941/88
Bonnie Ntshalintshali (1967-1999)
Lobola
1988
Painted earthenware
uMembeso (Zulu Wedding) - Petros Gumbi
Petros Gumbi (b.1973)
uMembeso (Zulu Wedding)
Ceramic
R37 500
I feel very excited and happy to participate in the Contemporary Reflections Project. I would like to say thanks to Fée Halsted-Berning and the people at Tatham Art Gallery for giving me this wonderful opportunity to make the beautiful sculpture for Bonnie Ntshalintshali who was my teacher. I want to say thank you to Bonnie and Fee for creating the Ardmore Studio.
I chose the Bonnie sculpture (Lobola) because Bonnie is our foundation at Ardmore and her work and teaching inspired me to create this special piece. She was a good teacher and I love working with clay even though Bonnie has passed away. I wanted to show the young artists that if you listen to the old artists, your talent will improve.
The sculpture shows the Nguni cows that need to be paid for the wedding to take place and I placed them one on top of the other to give the sculpture balance. The mats and pots at the bottom are the gifts to the family. The bridal couple is placed at the top as they are the most important part of the ceremony.