Pitika Ntuli (born 1942) is a South African sculptor, poet, writer, and academic who spent 32 years of his life in exile in

Swaziland Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

and the UK.

Biography

Pitika Ntuli was born in

Springs, Gauteng Springs is a former independent city that is now part of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, City of Ekurhuleni, based in the east of Johannesburg East Rand, (East Rand), in Gauteng Province, South Africa. It lies 50 km (31 mi) ea ...

, South Africa, and grew up in

Witbank Witbank (), officially Emalahleni, is a city situated on the Highveld of Mpumalanga, South Africa, within the Emalahleni Local Municipality. The name Witbank is Afrikaans for "white ridge", and is named after a white sandstone outcrop where wago ...

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...

. He became active in the struggle against the

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 ...

government, as a result of which he was exiled. From 1963, he lived in Swaziland, where he was eventually arrested and detained as a political prisoner, spending a year in solitary isolation in a death row prison cell in Swaziland until international pressure on the South African and Swaziland authorities secured his release in 1978 to the UK. He subsequently went to study in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

at the

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...

, where he earned an MFA and an MA degree in Comparative Industrial Relations and Industrial Sociology. After completing these studies, he went back to England and began a career teaching at educational institutions, notably the

Camberwell College of Art Camberwell College of Arts is a public tertiary art school in Camberwell, in London, England. It is one of the six constituent colleges of the University of the Arts London. It offers further and higher education programmes, including postgra ...

Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design Central Saint Martins is a public tertiary art school in London, England. It is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of shor ...

, the

London College of Printing The London College of Communication is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It specialises in media-related subjects including advertising, animation, film, graphic design, photography and sound arts. It has approximately ...

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated MDX) is a public research university in Hendon, northwest London, England. The name of the university is taken from its location within the historic county boundaries ...

and the

University of East London , mottoeng = Knowledge and the fulfilment of vows , established = 1898 – West Ham Technical Institute1952 – West Ham College of Technology1970 – North East London Polytechnic1989 – Polytechnic of East London ...

. In 1994, he returned to South Africa, where he began lecturing in Fine Arts at the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...

and the

University of KwaZulu-Natal The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) is a university with five campuses in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2004 after the merger between the University of Natal and the University of Durban-Westville. ...

. Ntuli has exhibited in several individual and group exhibitions in many countries in Europe and in the US, as well as organising numerous international art and cultural events in Britain. His sculptures are in several private collections worldwide, including that of

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

Phuthuma Nhleko Freedom Phuthuma Nhleko (born 7 April 1960) is a South African businessman, formerly chief executive and executive chairman of MTN Group, a South African multinational mobile telecommunications company primarily focused on Africa. Career Nhle ...

, and Edward and Irene Akufo-Addo. Some of his public sculptures can be found in the Swaziland National Bank, St. Mary's Catholic Church in

Lobamba Lobamba is a city in Eswatini, and is one of the two capitals (along with Mbabane), serving as the legislative, traditional, spiritual, seat of government of the Parliament of Eswatini,Museum Africa Museum Africa or MuseuMAfricA (formerly known as the Africana Museum) is an historical museum in Newtown, Johannesburg, South Africa. History The museum was established in 1933, when the Johannesburg Public Library bought a large quantity of ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

; ''The Scent of Invisible Footprints: the Sculpture of Pitika Ntuli'' was published by the

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA), known colloquially as Unisa, is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, U ...

(UNISA) to accompany that exhibition. It was followed in 2011 by showings in the

Durban Art Gallery Durban Art Gallery is a municipal art gallery in Durban, South Africa. It is run by eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality created in 2000, that includes the city of Durban, Sou ...

and the UNISA Gallery,

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

. Ntuli has subsequently exhibited at Constitutional Hill and Melrose Arch in Johannesburg and the Oliver Tambo Cultural Centre in Ekhuruleni. Ntuli is an expert in African indigenous knowledge systems. A regular political and cultural commentator on television and radio, he is also well-known as a poet. He has been a keynote speaker at numerous high-profile events and has read his poetry in many forums. He is a frequent guest on television and radio and especially on many of the SABC African-language radio stations, and has participated in national and provincial task teams and ministerial advisory committees. He was a judge for the ''Sunday Times'' Literary Awards (2009). He chaired the 2010 Task Team that advised the Minister of Arts and Culture with regard to cultural programmes associated with the World Cup, including the opening and closing ceremonies. In 2013, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Visual Art from the Arts and Culture Trust and Vodacom Foundation. In 2020, his exhibition ''Azibuyele Emasisweni, (Return to the Source)'' comprised works sculpted solely from bone, presented online during the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

pandemic. The exhibition won a Global Fine Art people's choice award, and was subsequently shown at the

Oliewenhuis A Neo-Dutch style mansion was designed in 1935. Completed in 1941, this mansion located on Grant's Hill served as residence for the Governor General of the Union of South Africa from 1942. In 1972, the building was officially named Oliewenhuis ...

Art Museum in 2022 and the

in March 2023.

Personal life

Pitika is married to Antoinette Ntuli; they have four sons, two daughters and four grandchildren.

Selected exhibitions

Ntuli's exhibitions include: * 1981: Grange Museum, Brent, London, UK * 1982: Oval House, London, UK * 1983: ''Mbongi Sabela'',

Africa Centre The Africa Centre, in Cape Town, South Africa, is structured as a not-for-profit organisation whose purpose is to provide a platform for Pan-African arts and cultural practice to function as a catalyst for social change. All the projects it con ...

, London, UK * 1986: ''Crossing Borders into Hope'', Munster, Dusseldorf, and Berlin, Germany * 1986: ''Airing Views'', Highbury Fields, London, UK * 1989: ''Anthem for our Children'', 198 Gallery, London, UK * 1991: ''Anthem for workers'', National Museum of Labour History, London, UK * 1992: ''At the Nerve End of our Dream'', Greenwich Citizens Gallery, London, UK * 2010: ''Monti-wa-Marumo'' (Boomerang to the Source), Angel Row Art Gallery, 2010, Nottingham, UK * 2010: ''Scent of Invisible Footprints in Moments of Complexity'',

MuseuMAfricA Museum Africa or MuseuMAfricA (formerly known as the Africana Museum) is an historical museum in Newtown, Johannesburg, South Africa. History The museum was established in 1933, when the Johannesburg Public Library bought a large quantity of ...

, Johannesburg, South Africa * 2011: ''Black Artists for South Africa'', Upper Street Gallery, London, UK * 2011: ''Roots, Routes and Routs'', Black Art Gallery, London, UK * 2011: ''Heart Under South Africa'', ?, London, UK * 2011: ''Monti wa Marumo'', Brixton Art Gallery, London, UK * 2011: ''Point of Arrival'', Woodlands Art Gallery, London, UK * 2011: ''Thusa'',

Oval House An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.) it is given a more precise definition, which may include either one or ...

, London, UK * 2011: Grange Museum of Labour History, London, UK * 2011: Marylands Studio, London, UK * 2011: Third Havana Bienniel, Cuba * 2011–2012: ''20Stellenbosch – 20 years of South African Sculpture'' * 2011–2012: Nirox SculpturePark * 2012: ''Oliver and Adelaide Siyanikhumbula'', Oliver Tambo Environmental Narrative and Education Centre, Wattville, Benoni * 2012: Den Haag – Contemporary South African Sculpture * 2013: ''From Marikana Hill to Constitutional Hill'', Constitutional Hill * 2014: ''Marikana Fracture'', Richmond Booktown * 2014: Design City, Cape Town * 2015: ''The So-Called Emerging Black Artist'' * 2020: ''Azibuyele Emasisweni, (Return to the Source)''

References

External links

"Living Legends , Professor Pitika Ntuli calls on artists to use their craft to fight corruption"
SABC News, 19 February 2022.
"Unsung Heroes , Professor Pitika Ntuli"
Ikwekwezi FM, 25 May 2022. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ntuli, Pitika 1942 births Living people Academic staff of the University of the Witwatersrand‎ Academics of Camberwell College of Arts Academics of Middlesex University Academics of the University of East London Black British artists Pratt Institute alumni South African academics South African poets South African sculptors