Revisions

Before Nelson Mukhuba became a full time carver he worked as a migrant worker in Johannesburg on several different projects. During the 1960s he formed various Marabi dance bands and made recordings. Like all the carvers from the rural north who are represented in the Campbell Smith Collection he was untrained in a formal sense. His experience of the city appears in some works; for example, on the top of a walking stick he has carved a series of open rectangles, which according to him represent the shaft of an elevator. He also used images from magazines and books as source material and carved traditional items. Important among these are the large drums and the set of four figures – representing the four ages of women – made for the Venda girls’ initiation ceremonies (domba) (University of the Witwatersrand). He worked and lived in Tshakhuma, a German Mission station, and carved Christian subjects, such as the famous Nebuchadnezzar (Johannesburg Art Gallery) and Christ Crucified. Read More…

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