Ndudzo: A patriarch of local sculptors

GASEBALWE SERETSE
Staff Writer | Friday August 24, 2007 00:00

 

Ndudzo says that his grandfather was a wood-carver as well as a sub-chief and whenever there was a hearing at the dhare/kgotla, he would work on his pieces while listening to the deliberations and at the end of the day he always delivered fair judgements. On the other hand, his grandmother used to weave big baskets that were used for carrying corn from the roots of a tsambatsi tree. The old woman was also good at decorating traditional huts with clay of different colours such as black, grey and yellow. The 62-year-old Ndudzo says that his father, as well as paternal uncles, were craftsmen who somehow influenced the young Ndudzo to pursue a career in the arts.
'When I was growing up in Rusape, I used to playfully slide down earth mounds and whenever I reached the feet of the mounds I would stop and model some pieces from the clay,' Ndudzo recollects.

Ndudzo did his formal education at St. Faith Mission School in Rusape. The school was run by the late Welsh missionary Guy Clutton-Brock who turned it into a multi-racial community much to the chagrin of the apartheid regime. Ndudzo has fond memories of the institution and points out that it was built on a farm that played a major role in the Rhodesian liberation struggle because many freedom fighters were given free passage through it when they either launched attacks on government armies or fled from them.
'While at St. Faith Mission, I was very good at woodwork and my joints were always perfect and I used to laugh my lungs out whenever I saw other students filling theirs with sawdust,' the sculptor says with a grin.

The artist says that when he was still a student, Congolese artists who hawked their artworks in Rusape inspired him.

 He met his greatest mentor, Job Kekana from South Africa at St. Faith Mission. According to Ndudzo, Kekana was the uncle to the famous blind musician, Steve Kekana.
The artist, who confesses that his memory sometimes fails him, says that apart from St. Faith Mission School, he attended many other educational institutions that he cannot remember.

After finishing formal training, Ndudzo conducted what he calls 'ecumenical workshops' for the Methodist Church at St. Ignatius where he tutored upcoming artists from 1970-71. From there the artist moved to Luveve Secondary School in Bulawayo where he continued to teach art.

After the stint at Luveve Ndudzo moved to a school in Boksburg, South Africa, where he taught master mould-making.  The versatile artist was then snapped up by the Fuba Academy near Johannesburg.

'By the time I settled in Joburg, my reputation had preceded me so much that when I introduced myself to some people as Barnabas Ndudzo, they used to dismiss me right away,' says Ndudzo. Ndudzo remembers, with a trace of nostalgia, producing students who became reputable artists in their own right such as Beverly Buthelezi, while teaching at the Fuba Academy.

Given the volatile political situation in South Africa then, the artist decided to migrate to Botswana because of its serenity in the 1970s.

After relocating to Botswana, Ndudzo taught art for a while at Gallery Ann and other institutions before moving to his current base at Thapong Visual Arts Centre where he continues to mentor a lot of upcoming artists. Ndudzo has since established himself as a patriarch of the upcoming artists including those from the Ndudzo clan at the arts centre. Ndudzo says that he has been mentoring young people for a while and he wants that to change.

'I find it hard to relate to young artists because sometimes they do not take their work seriously. What I want to do now is to start mentoring older people before they take their talents with them to the grave,' says the artist.

Ndudzo, who has a permanent collection at the National Museum, says that has won too many awards to mention. His works have been bought by art-collectors from countries like Sweden, South Africa, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom (UK), France and Switzerland.

The veteran says that artworks that he is proud of include the wooden sculpture of Sir Seretse Khama that he presented to Tshekedi and Thea Khama on their wedding day. The artist has also done a sculpture of former Debswana boss Louis Nchindo that is displayed at the family home.

Ndudzo's award-winning pieces are 'Tsutsube Dancer' and 'Borankana Dancer' of a man and a woman performing some traditional dance. Both pieces are made of what the artist calls 'Motswere iron-wood'.

Another interesting piece in Ndudzo's collection is 'Kalanga Warrior' - a Kalanga hunter holding a knobkerrie and a spear. Likewise, the piece is made out of 'Motswere iron-wood'.

Then there is 'Woman Juggler' which is made of a lighter wood, which the artist says is 'male' Morula. 

The versatile Ndudzo says that he is able to work with different media like wood, stone, ivory, metal, bronze and clay.

He says that he is also a painter and welder of note although he prefers to concentrate on sculpture nowadays. For his stone sculptures, he mostly gets black granite, dolomite, black and white marble from Moshaneng.  Ndudzo resides in Gaborone with his wife and six children, a son and five daughters. 

His only son, Thapong-based Shepherd Ndudzo holds a BA degree in Fine Art from UNISA.
The young Ndudzo is an award-winning artist eager to continue the legend of the Ndudzo family.