East London- A very blissful evening for the arts community in East London as a brand new gallery was launched in a prestigious and very beautiful event. Limani (meaning plough) Gallery was launched on the 10th of December 2022, at 85 Old Transkei Road, Nahoon, East London.
While speaking to one of the organizers, Busi Nodada, mentioned to us that this project has been coming for the past 5 years and it has not been an easy journey. Ms. Nodada said that they had been doing pop-up galleries in East London with various artists and with the help of many other stakeholders such as Volvo, the Department of Arts and Culture, and other individuals who saw the need to assist. “This was halted when covid hit in 2020, artists could not put food on their tables and it was a very sad time for arts” remembered Ms. Nodada.
Artists were featured in the launch. Andrew Mogridge had a few pieces there, Tandokazi Qomfo also had her work present with others such as Claudine Hauke, Mziwoxolo Makalima, Ennock Mlangeni, Dr. Amitabh Mitra, Ukho Peyi, Sibusiso Nxokweni, and Thandazani Nofingxana
Among those present at the Limani Gallery launch was Masana Chikeka who is an official at the Department of Arts and Culture, she shared with us the journey from 5 years ago when the gallery was established through pop-ups. Chikeka told OurNews that when they first started, the focus was on the fashion market. She shared how it has been amazing to watch this grow as they started incorporating other aspects such as visuals, photography, and all other aspects that are there in a bid to be inclusive for all artists. Masana also said, “this is a project that will put food on the artists’ tables, a project where no one is excluded in any way”.
We asked Chikeka how the department is planning to educate the broad public in arts as we are in the Eastern Cape where creatives choose to leave because of the lack of opportunities, she told us that this is being done through different talks and engagements with the public as it is very vital for communities to be aware of arts and that it is not only for a certain class.
Speaking to some of the designers, Thandazani Nofingxana who is a textile and fashion designer from Mthatha said that his fashion is inspired by his culture as an African, “I try to tell Eastern Cape stories and the nuances of being a Xhosa boy in Mthatha” said Thandazani. He also said that his work ranges from insecurities to identity.
We asked Thandazani why he chose art, and he said that it started with music and as time went he was more interested in how they dressed that the actual music. Then he went to school for graphic design and decided that he didn’t like and when a certain lecturer did a presentation on textiles and he related more as he had worked at a t-shirt printing business before. He decided to change his course. Furthermore, when we asked Thandazani about his future plans, he told us that he would like to keep Eastern Cape as his production base, however, he would like to sell outside of the province as his target market may be out of the Eastern Cape because of the kind of material he uses.
The launch was a very successful event and Limani Gallery is proof that art in the Eastern Cape is very much alive, artists just need opportunities like these.
So, if you feel arty on any day, do pop by Limani Gallery at 85 Old Transkei Road, Nahoon, East London, and have the time of your life with great artwork to see and buy too.
ARTICLE BY CWAYITA ZWENI