LATEST WORK

• Fundudzi Fish  (2007)

PREVIOUS EXHIBITIONS / WORKS

• Vivho Venda  on Afterlife (22 March - 8 April 2007)
• New drums on South African Art Now  (29 November 2006 - 6 January 2007)
• Fundudzi Airforce  (2005)
• Tshinakaho  (2005)
• Eve  (2005)
• Masindi  (2005)
• Mutsiko Venda  (2005)
• Fundudzi Air Ways  (2005)
• Suka Africa Fundudzi  (2004)
• Aeroplane drum  (1997)

PUBLICATIONS

• Samson Mudzunga  (2006)

BIOGRAPHY
Samson Mudzunga was born in 1938 in Shanzha, Dopeni, in Venda (now Limpopo), where he continues to live and work. His family is from the area around Lake Fundudzi which in Venda mythology is regarded as a sacred site. A self-taught sculptor and carver, his first figurative sculptures were included on an exhibition at the Fuba Gallery in 1988. He started carving the huge drums for which he has become well-known in the mid-1990s. In the forms and imagery of these drums Mudzunga incorporates symbolism from the mythology and traditional customs of the Venda people to both explore these customs and question issues of power, in particular the power relationships existing within his own community.

In 1996 he staged his first burial performance using a coffin shaped drum modeled on the traditional ngoma drum previously only used by tribal chiefs. In 1997 Mudzunga transformed the murumba type drum traditionally used in initiation and possession rituals into an aeroplane which he used in a performance to celebrate his fourth marriage. This was followed by a burial and subsequent resurrection performance in 1999.

Both his coffin and lobola drums are incised with lettering and relief carving and incorporate figurative elements which often replace the handles traditionally found on ngoma drums. The coffin drums are fitted with a door through which Mudzunga crawls in order to complete his performances. His burial and subsequent rebirth or resurrection are symbolised by entering and later reemerging from this carved womb or tomb. The reference to the womb is further underscored by the inclusion of other symbols such as smaller carved and garmented figures sometimes found in the interior of the drums as well as the use of the snake image, which in Venda cosmology refers to a water spirit that inhabits the pool or womb. Images of cattle are also used to refer to the links between the ancestors and the community as well as to sacrifice and bridal wealth.

Mudzunga has been widely acclaimed in recent years. The Johannesburg Art Gallery held a solo exhibition of his work in 2003, and his drums were included in the South African group exhibitions New identities in Bochum, Germany (2004); Personal Affects: Power and poetics in contemporary South African art at the Museum for African Art and the Cathedral of St John the Divine, New York (2004), and The Contemporary Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii (2006); and Turbulence at Hangar-7 in Salzburg, Austria (2007). Full CV

Mudzunga held a solo exhibition at the Jack Shainman Gallery in New York in February 2006. A performance marking the departure of the new drums for New York was held at Mudzunga's home in Dopeni, Limpopo, in November 2005. Click here to view images from the performance.

© 2008 Michael Stevenson. All rights reserved.