Johannes Maswanganyi
Although younger than many of the sculptors from rural northern Limpopo, Johannes Maswanganyi, similarly, had no institutional art training; his father taught him to carve traditional and functional items such as utensils and headrests. His work was included in the 1985 Tributaries exhibition with two nyamisoro figures (seated figures of traditional healers). Based on the traditional Tsonga medicine containers, the carvings showed the ways in which Maswanganyi adopted older forms to make new ones. Like the older forms the figures had removable heads with bodies hollowed out for the storage of medicines but they are much larger and carved in one material. They are important not only for the development of Maswanganyi’s work but also because they provided a way towards more recognizable figurative imagery. Read More…
