Zwelidumile Geelboi Mgxaji Mslaba "Dumile" Feni (May 21, 1942 – 1991) was a South African contemporary visual artist known for both his drawings and paintings that included sculptural elements as well as sculptures, which often depicted the struggle against

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. Feni lived in exile and extreme poverty for most of his art career.

Early life

Feni boy was born in the small

farmstead A homestead is an isolated dwelling, especially a farmhouse, and adjacent outbuildings, typically on a large agricultural holding such as a ranch or station. In North America the word "homestead" historically referred to land claimed by a set ...

of Withuis in

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Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...

, to parents Geelbooi Magoqwana, a trader and evangelist, and Bettie Nothemba Mgxaji, a business woman. When he was young, Feni's family relocated to the Welcome Estate in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. His family were

Xhosa people The Xhosa people, or Xhosa-speaking people (; ) are African people who are direct kinsmen of Tswana people, Sotho people and Twa people, yet are narrowly sub grouped by European as Nguni ethnic group whose traditional homeland is primarily t ...

Career

Feni's work often tied to the period of

in South Africa. He lived in self-imposed exile from 1968 to 1991 based between London, Los Angeles and New York. He moved to the United States in 1978. He was an artist in residence at the Institute of African Humanities in Los Angeles, at the University of California. The common man in present day South Africa is largely unaware of Dumile Feni's work and the Contemporary South African Art movement touts him as a 'Goya of Townships'. Dumile Feni represented much more than that.

Documentary

In 2010, a documentary called ''Zwelidumile'' was released. It was created by South African filmmaker Ramadan Suleman.

Personal life

Feni's first name, Zwelidumile, means "a person known all over the country." Feni has a daughter named Marriam Diale.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

* 1965: Transvaal Academy, Johannesburg, South Africa * 1966: Durban Art Gallery, Durban, South Africa * 1966: Gallery 101, Johannesburg, South Africa * 1966: Johannesburg Civic Theatre, Johannesburg, South Africa * 1966: Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria, South Africa * 1966: Republic Festival Exhibition, Pretoria, South Africa * 1966: SA Breweries Art Prize Exhibition, toured South Africa * 1966: ''Trans-Natal'', Natal Society for Arts, Durban, South Africa * 1967: Gallery 101, Johannesburg, South Africa * 1967: Transvaal Academy, Johannesburg, South Africa * 1968: Sketches from a Private Collection, Goodman Gallery * 1969: Grosvenor Gallery, London, United Kingdom * 1970: Exhibition from the Collection of Desmond Fisher, Goodman Gallery * 1970: The 51 Club Winter Art Exhibition, Goodman Gallery * 1975: ''South African Sculpture'', Goodman Gallery * 1981: ''Black Art Today'', Jabulani Standard Bank, Soweto * 1988: La Galleria, New York, NY * 1989: Portrait of Nelson Mandela for the Pathfinder Mural, New York, NY * 1990: ''Township Art from South Africa'', Applecrest, New York, NY * 1991: Standard Bank National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, South Africa * 2010: ''Art on Paper'', MOMO Art Gallery, South Africa

Group exhibitions

* 1966: ''Artists of Fame and Promise'', Adler Fielding Galleries, Johannesburg, South Africa * 1967: São Paulo Art Biennial, Brazil * 1967: ''Sculpture South Africa, 1900: 1967'', Adler Fielding Galleries, Johannesburg, South Africa * 1969: ''Contemporary African Art'', Camden Arts Centre, London, United Kingdom * 1971: Gallery 101, Johannesburg, South Africa * 1972: Gallery 101, Johannesburg, South Africa * 1975: ''African Art from South Africa'', Gallery 21, London, United Kingdom * 1977: ''Contemporary African Art in South Africa'', Rand Afrikaans University, Pretoria Art Museum, University of Orange Free State, William Hamphrey Art Gallery (University of Fort Hare) * 1977: SANG (Cape Town Festival), Gallery 21, South Africa * 1982: ''Art towards Social Development: an Exhibition of South African Art'', National Museum and Art Gallery, Gaborone, Botswana * 1983: United Nations Exhibition, Commemoration of Namibia Freedom Day, New York, NY * 1987: ''Unlock Apartheid's Jails, conference on children under apartheid'', with Bill Cosby and the American Committee of Africa, Hyatt Hotel, New York, NY * 1988: ''Uhuru: an Exhibition of African American Art against Apartheid'', City without Wall Gallery, Newark, NJ * 1988: ''Voices from Exile (Seven South African Artists)'', Washington, DC; Los Angeles, CA; Houston, TX; Philadelphia, PA * 2010: MOMO Art Gallery, South Africa

Awards

* 2003:

Order of Ikhamanga The Order of Ikhamanga is a South African honour. It was instituted on 30 November 2003 and is granted by the President of South Africa for achievements in arts, culture, literature, music, journalism, and sports (which were initially recognised b ...

in Gold, for excellence in the arts

Selected works and publications

* Feni, Dumile, and Bruce Smith.
Dumile: Artist in Exile
', South Africa: Bruce Smith in association with ''Art on Paper,'' 2004.

References

External links

* * https://www.art-archives-southafrica.ch/DUMILE.htm * http://www.pelmama.org/DUMILE.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Feni, Dumile 1942 births 1992 deaths South African painters Recipients of the Order of Ikhamanga