It always frustrates Pikita Ntuli that every sculpture of former president Nelson Mandela is made from bronze. Five years ago, the renowned sculptor, poet and former freedom fighter decided this “travesty” should be corrected.
“Why bronze? Bronze is not something our people were given the opportunity to work with. It’s associated with an unattainable thing. We are people of the earth, from the land. This is how we should be portraying ourselves. This is how I decided to portray Mandela.”
As Madiba laboured on Robben Island breaking stone, so the new monument marking his centenary has been carved from Belfast black granite “also linking Madiba to the land”.
Weighing around 18 tons and standing about 4.3m high, Madiba - A Provocation to Reconciliation is a well-researched and executed sculpture redolent with symbolism.
Although only a handful of people have seen the artwork, Ntuli says Madiba’s face has four moods depending upon the angle from which the viewer observes the sculpture. These span worry, realisation, contemplation and resolution “as seen in the joy of a broad smile”.
“These moods also symbolise stages of ill health and recovery. Around the world, the multitude of statues of Madiba usually depict him as an isolated individual, a role he always strenuously rejected. He was never alone.
“He was a man and leader whose love for people and zest for life shone through everything he did.
“This love was demonstrated most powerfully by two character traits: his commitment to the reconciliation of a people divided by race and years of unequal rights and his delight in children.
“Madiba’s tangible and intangible legacy is gargantuan. His humanity, leadership and accomplishments are admired and feted around the world.
Ntuli adds that these are the traits he hopes viewers will see clearly when the sculpture is unveiled at the Melrose Gallery on July 11.
Ntuli said this sculpture evolved and was modified dozens of times because he wants ordinary South Africans involved in how the artwork eventually turned out.
“We asked people from all over to give us their impressions on Madiba. What do they think of when they think of this great man? I am no longer lecturing people when they come to my studio; the people are lecturing me.
“The people I work with say to me: ‘The age of experts is finished, the age of communities is now.’ It is no longer the age of leadership, it is now the age of followership. The young people are guiding me towards this mindset. It’s so humbling.”
For Ntuli, sculpting and art are a way to express himself when poetry is not enough.
“You can’t censor sculptures as easily as you can censor words. And this one was born from a conversation I had with Madiba. He asked me how I would celebrate reconciliation through my art. I promised to sculpt a monument dedicated to him so that he can rest in peace.
“One day my sons said to me, ‘you lied to Madiba’. They said, ‘you can’t have a monument for a process like reconciliation.’
“This is where we decided that it was not a monument. It was a provocation, provoking us into the idea of reconciliation. This sculpture is one of 23 life-sized pieces I am currently working on, each one telling a particular aspect of our struggle over the past 23 years.
And this is so that uneducated people can learn their history from the stones.”
Ntuli, through the African Renaissance Institute, spent a great deal of time with Mandela, discussing poetry, art and culture.
“We are capable of honouring our heroes. We have no statues of Adam Kok, Sarah Baartman, Steve Biko or Miriam Makeba. People must know that we are able to write our own history instead of being dominated by colonial statues all over.”
Ntuli is now working on a statue of Winnie Mandela. “It will be marble with pink touches, which show her blood. I have no idea when it will be finished, but I hope to get as many people involved when we host an open day so that they can share their memories of Winnie. She must be captured in a way that speaks to people.”
This is what he tried to do with the Mandela sculpture, enlisting the help of seven others, one of them Jonathan, his family’s former gardener.
“I always found him to be quite intelligent, always asking questions. I brought him into the studio and taught him about art.
“The other people I brought in were also doing menial jobs, some were car cleaners and others were volunteering. Today they are artists.
“They can work with any material. But I am the one who gained the most. I learned so much about art and myself from them.”
The sculpture of Mandela will be an ode to the man himself, he said.
“When you break granite it turns to dust and goes back into the land, it is part of our land question. This is who Mandela was. ”
*Professor Pikita Ntuli’s monument to Nelson Mandela will be unveiled at Melrose Square in Melrose Arch on July 11 and will move to the The Melrose Gallery for the Mandela 100 Exhibition. The exhibition will showcase new and older works by established and emerging artists who remain inspired by Mandela and the principles for which he stood and fought. The exhibition runs until August 19.