Environmental art from recycled rubbish by Kenneth Nkosi and Vumelani Buthelezi reflect our society: especially the role of women and the power they possess to change the world.

Trash Art

On one side of the Mofolo Art Centre in Soweto kids go through their dance moves to a CD blaring scratchy, traditional Zulu music. On the other a gaggling wedding party emerges from a hall. Cramped between them is a dimly lit space no bigger than a suburban second bedroom in which five artists are at work.

It is one of the most creative spaces on earth. In particular it is the story of hugely talented resident artist, Kenneth Nkosi, who works primarily with recycled rubbish.

The Mofolo Art Centre

The Mofolo Art Centre is the direct descendant of the iconic Polly Street Art Centre founded in July 1949. There, in the shadow of the headgear of Durban Deep Mine, renowned artists like Sydney Kumalo, Leonard Matsoso, Nat Mokgosi and Kagiso Patrick Mautloa learnt to express themselves visually.

But this was a time when insidious colonialism was being upgraded into a more vulgar, nastier form called apartheid. So these ‘hewers of wood’ were first moved to the Bantu Men’s Social Centre in Eloff Street in 1960 then, two decades later, to the Mofolo Art Centre opposite the Johannesburg Bowl. Located amongst a cluster of featureless face brick community buildings, it mounted its first exhibition, the landmark Black Art Today, soon after moving.

Environmental Art

Of particular interest now is Nkosi, who works with recycled rubbish which represents the environment in which he lives - the ghetto. Shortly after turning 15, he had a vivid dream in which his long dead grandfather appeared to him to inform him that he had a creative gift. But it would be some time before he would find the courage to embrace his calling.

He was born in 1957 in eMzinoni near the Mpumalanga highlands town of Bethal. Raised by his single mother and grandmother, he began his creative journey by drawing in the sand with a stick, moulding clay and making cars from wire. From here he progressed to more intricate sculptures and pencil sketches: displaying a profound talent long before his destiny was revealed to him. But the nightmare of township life at the height of apartheid militated against following a dream.

The Art of Poverty

‘The reality for blacks at the time was that they were treated as nothing more than a source of labour,’ says the slight, dreadlocked Nkosi, made to appear larger by an immense reservoir of energy. ‘So it was a fanciful notion that a township kid could just up and pursue whatever purpose they might have; especially one mired in poverty. It was what I saw around me that made me an activist before an artist. After being approached by Murphy Morobe and Popo Molefe of the United Democratic Front (UDF – later to become the Mass Democratic Movement, which led the 80s internal struggle against apartheid) I established the Mzinoni Youth Organisation to mobilise young people.’

At the beginning of 1985 Nkosi headed for Johannesburg and enrolled at the Mofolo Art Centre for a three year diploma in fine art. He now runs the centre, but it has not been an easy time without public funding. These financial woes and a university project opened a new door for Nkosi; one that is bringing the recognition he deserves. The assignment was Journey and it had to be done only with found objects. With it came a realisation that everything, including rubbish, has value.

‘The biggest problem for poor artists is access to materials,’ he comments while fidgeting with a tattered red boxing glove he picked up on his way to the centre. ‘But with trash anything is possible. All you need is imagination.’

Three Dimensional Art

His imagination has conceived an exceptionally powerful three dimensional art series titled Women in the Forefront. The most compelling is of a pregnant shack-dwelling woman, her stomach and mannequin-head torn open by an explosion of informal settlements.

‘South Africa, on the surface, is a very beautiful country,’ explains Nkosi. ‘But under the surface there’s a time bomb. The land is pregnant with poverty, which will come to haunt us if nothing is done. And being the homemaker, women are at the forefront of this new struggle.’

A brighter future is represented by a series of sculptures and paintings. Among these are paintings themed on music. In one a woman beats a set of drums, in another she belts out a tune at the microphone. When musician Sipho ‘Hotstix’ Mabusa saw these he commissioned a three dimensional painting of a sax player.

Dual Life of an Artist

Vumelani Buthelezi also has dreadlocks, works with found objects and is equally concerned with the plight of women, but this is where the similarity to Nkosi ends. He is tall, broad of shoulder, and usually dressed in military fatigues with unlaced boots. Less intense, he smiles often, which occasionally gives way to a deep laugh. Born in 1975 in Ndeni in Soweto, he grew up with a passion for pens, making folded paper objects and fashioning wire cars.

‘Now I’m a full-time artist, but I’ve grown up having to earn enough for my family, which is an impossible situation considering the state of the arts in South Africa,’ he says. ‘I’ve overcome this by training myself to sleep as little as two hours a night so I can live another life in formal employment, which is as a call-centre operator for an insurance company.’

Recycling Rubbish into Fine Art

When not at work, or catching a few moments with his family, Buthelezi scours scrap yards and rubbish dumps. On one sortie he found the skulls of a cow and bull, long horns intact, bullet holes through the head. It was such an awful way for such magnificent creatures to meet their end that he decided to bring them back to life.

Using corrugated iron and cloth for their hides, their heads now look out in permanent inquiry as to the methods we acquire food. Next to the bull is a painting of a flower, its bulb morphing into a butterfly on closer inspection.

Butterflies are Beautiful

‘Butterflies are so beautiful,’ he says, the smile returning. ‘Not only that, they’re an essential part of the ecosystem because of the role they play in cross-pollination. Yet how often do you see people catching and crushing them. The butterfly here is a metaphor for our treatment of the environment and women.’

This theme is carried into other paintings in the series Buthelezi is working on. On a massive canvas a drunken man, blood dripping from his whip, beats his wife – their baby abandoned on the floor. In another, on rusted corrugated iron, what appear to be two faceless women reveal the presence of a spirit, a constant refrain in his work and life.

He believes art should be spiritual rather than beautiful: convey an existential message.

Trash to Environmental Art

Nkosi and Buthelezi turn the things we discard into wonderful environmental art. The inspiration for this comes from deep within – a source they do not know. It could be God or the inner divine.

Pat Hopkins