Mainganye produces MASTERPIECES

Read: 2078

    Literature

The veteran multi-talented artist and art facilitator Avhashoni Mainganye's pair of dexterous hands continues to produce multi-faceted masterpieces at his home village of Phiphidi.

For an artist who has travelled to places such as France, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Scotland and the USA, art has become the essence of his life, to the extent that it is unlikely to not find him busy working on a piece of art.

“Teaching art and producing pieces of art add value to my life,” he said. “I have come a long way with art; it all started at a younger age. It's like a calling; one cannot run away from it.”

Mainganye is respected both at home and overseas, and he has so far contributed in many ways to the art industry. “I do print making, stone and wood sculpturing, drawing, and painting, just to name a few,” he said. He completed a two-year course at the Rorke’s Drift Art and Craft Centre, majoring in lino printing and watercolour painting. He draws much of his artistic influence from his culture and tradition, and is always awed and inspired by the geographical beauty of his place, ranging from the wildlife to the mountains and valleys.

“I have facilitated painting and print-making at Coker College in South Carolina and at North Hartville Elementary School,” he recalled. “I taught print making to mentally challenged pupils at a special school in Belgium in 2001.”

He was one of the 18 artists from South Africa who participated in the Spring in Chile cultural exchange programmein South America in 1995. In 2005, he worked for the one-time Soul of Africa Exhibition that was hosted by the Development Bank of Southern Africa.

“I was named in the top five of the Sasol Works Art Awards and scooped a R25 000 voucher to get material for making my art in 2008,” he said. “I was the only black person and only representative from Limpopo Province.”

He also ran a sculpture workshop at the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival under the theme Craft Art. He was also invited by the Grahamstown Arts Festival Committee to conduct the craft/art sculpture workshop with Graham Jones.

In Vhembe district, he has been running his own art classes for students in the Thohoyandou Arts and Culture Centre since 1999. “It pleases my heart to note that many of the well-known artists here at home took mentorship from me and that they are continuing to amaze the world with their works,” he said.

Mainganye can be reached on 084 725 9613, 076 134 9613 or at [email protected].

By: Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho was born in 1984 in Madombidzha village, not far from Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo Province. After submitting articles for roughly a year for Limpopo Mirror's youth supplement, Makoya, he started writing for the main newspaper. He is a prolific writer who published his first book, titled A Traumatic Revenge in 2011. It focusses on life on the street and how to survive amidst poverty. His second book titled The Violent Gestures of Life was published in 2014.