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ZULU! Contemporary Master Zulu Potter Mncane Nzuza
Vessels From the Far Away KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa Travel to Modern Desert Venue for Exhibition at Lisa Sette Gallery in Phoenix, Arizona
Image Mncane Nzuza, photographed in KwaZulu-Natal province, South AfricaExhibition
November 2, 2019 - January 4, 2020
Private Lecture Event with Douglas Dawson
Ethnographic Expert Specializing in African, Asian, and Pre-Columbian Ceramics
Saturday November 9, 2019 from 1:00-2:00pm
Public Opening Reception
Saturday November 9, 2019 from 7:00-9:00pm
It is difficult to conceive of two more disparate situations; a sophisticated, urban, contemporary art gallery in Phoenix, Arizona and a traditional compound of earthen structures at the end of a road in a remote corner of KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. Surprisingly, however, these two contrasting circumstances of life on earth are closely linked by the common, intrinsically human impulse of aesthetic appreciation. In this case, regarding the hand-built clay vessels of Zulu potter Mncane Nzuza, whose work is both distinguished among her Zulu culture, and widely recognized in contemporary Western circles. From November 2, 2019 to January 4, 2020, Lisa Sette Gallery will exhibit a collection of Nzuza’s remarkable clay vessels.
Mncane Nzuza lives in South Africa in a kraal—the ancient, traditional compound of round, earthen houses, and she is 69 years old. Her grandmother was a potter who instructed Nzuza as a child in the labor-intensive and matriarchal world of Zulu ceramics. Traditional Zulu pottery created today links to deep cultural pathways: the blackened earthenware vessels function as potent connectors between ancestors and the living. Most are made for either brewing or serving a mild beer, which is communally consumed at important occasions. While Zulu potters work within this specific canon, there is considerable avenue for individual expression, and creating distinguished pottery is a primary vehicle for women to assert and increase prestige within Zulu society. Nzuza’s pots, which are exceptionally accomplished both technically and aesthetically, are a testament to this dynamic.
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