Noria Muelwa Mabasa (née Luvhimbi) (born May 10, 1938) is a South African artist renowned for her exceptional woodcarving skills. She's known for her intricate sculptures that often reflect themes of African culture, spirituality, and everyday life. Mabasa's work has been exhibited internationally, and she's considered one of the leading contemporary artists in South Africa. Her journey and dedication to her craft inspire many within and beyond the art world.

Early life

Noria Muelwa Luvhimbi was born on May 10, 1938, in

Shigalo Xigalo is a small town on the R81 road (South Africa), R81 route, falling under the Collins Chabane Local Municipality in the Limpopo province of South Africa. Xigalo is famed for being the birthplace of the South African potter and sculptor Nori ...

(Xigalo) village,

Limpopo Province Limpopo () is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a group of Tsonga settlers ...

(then the

Transvaal Province The Province of Transvaal (), commonly referred to as the Transvaal (; ), was a province of South Africa from 1910 until 1994, when a new constitution subdivided it following the end of apartheid. The name "Transvaal" refers to the province's ...

). She was the third child born in her family with two older sisters. In 1955, she married Jim Mabasa. In 1965 Luvhimbi separated from Mabasa after she fell ill with a mysterious illness. Mabasa became impatient with her and eventually ordered her to leave his home, upon which she went back to her birthplace in Shigalo.

Career

Iziko sang Former President Nelson Mandela

Noria Mabasa completed one year of formal education at a school located three hours walking distance from her childhood home, but had to discontinue schooling because of household chores. In 1965 she began having

recurring dream A recurring dream is a dream which is experienced repeatedly over a long period. They can be pleasant or nightmarish and unique to the person and their experiences. Common themes in recurring dreams Through psychological analyses and studies, ...

s of an old woman who showed her how to work in the

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

medium, and prompted her to receive local training on the traditional craft. Her first clay figures were often small and were mostly given away to local children. She continues to create work inspired by the messages and visions of her dreams. She began working with clay in 1974 and two years later, in 1976, she became the first Tsonga woman to work in wood. She received local training. Mabasa has been working as an artist since 1976. She was encouraged to begin woodcarving after the suggestion of

Venda Venda ( ), officially the Republic of Venda (; ), was a Bantustan in northern South Africa. It was fairly close to the South African border with Zimbabwe to the north, while, to the south and east, it shared a long border with another black hom ...

sculpto
Nelson Makhuba
in 1983. Her earliest figures were modelled after clay and wood matano figures used in

domba The Doma (), also known as ''Dom'', ''Domra'', ''Domba'', ''Domaka'', ''Dombara'' and ''Dombari'', are castes, or groups, scattered across India. The Doma/Dom were a caste of drummers. According to Tantra scriptures, the Dom were engaged in the ...

initiation ceremonies. Mabasa initially found recognition on both the national and international art scenes in the 1980s with her ceramic figures painted with

enamel paint Enamel paint is paint that air-dries to a hard, usually glossy, finish, used for coating surfaces that are outdoors or otherwise subject to hard wear or variations in temperature; it should not be confused with decorated objects in "painted enam ...

. Her naturalistic figures are coil-built and fired in an open straw fire. Her current work combines the figurative and the functional; pots often take the shape of the female figure or feature faces.

Works

Known for her pottery and wood sculptures, she is a recipient of the 2002 Silver category of the

Order of the Baobab The Order of the Baobab is a South African civilian national honour, awarded to those for service in business and the economy; science, medicine, and for technological innovation; and community service. It was instituted on 6 December 2002, and i ...

, also receiving several other national and international accolades and awards for her outstanding artistry and creativity. Mabasa's works deal mostly with the

metaphysical Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of h ...

and feminine, particularly issues pertaining to women, as well as subjects of Venda mythology and

spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...

. She mainly works with clay from her local river bank and wood for her art pieces. Her choice to create wooden sculptures was partly informed by practicality - she stated that wood "isn't as fragile as clay." * ''Her wooden sculpture named The Flood'' (1994) took her nine months to create. The entire sculpture is made out of a fig tree trunk. She wanted to depict the devastation of floods on local villages. It is currently displayed in the foyer of the Sandton Convention Center in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

. * Her famous work of ''The Drum of Thunder'' follows the story of the Singo people and their mystical drum. It sold for 150,000 South African Rand (8,598.66 USD) during an auction in 2017. * ''Union Buildings'' (1999) is another of her famous works. Currently, Mabasa has a functioning gallery in her home of Tshino Village, located just outside the city of

Thohoyandou Thohoyandou () is a town in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. It is the administrative centre of Vhembe District Municipality and Thulamela Local Municipality. It is also known for being the former capital of the bantustan of Venda. History ...

Sources

* Arnold, Marion and Brenda Schmahmann. ''Between Union and Liberation: Women Artists in South Africa 1910–1990''. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2005. * Visonà, Monica B., Robin Poynor, and Herbert M. Cole. ''A History of Art in Africa''. 2nd Ed. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2001.

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mabasa, Noria 1938 births Living people 20th-century South African women artists 20th-century South African sculptors 21st-century South African women artists South African ceramicists South African women ceramicists People from Limpopo Recipients of the Order of the Baobab