Zwelidumile Geelboi Mgxaji Mhlaba "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 for his sculptures, which often depicted the struggle against

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

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Feni lived in exile and

extreme poverty Extreme poverty is the most severe type of poverty, defined by the United Nations (UN) as "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, ...

for most of his art career.

Early life

Feni was born in the small

farmstead A farmstead refers to the buildings and service areas associated with a farm. It consists of a house belonging to a farm along with the surrounding buildings. The characteristics of a specific farmstead reflect the local landscape, which provides ...

of Withuis in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope (), commonly referred to as the Cape Province () and colloquially as The Cape (), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Co ...

, 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 is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. His family were

Xhosa people The Xhosa people ( , ; ) are a Bantu peoples, Bantu ethnic group that migrated over centuries into Southern Africa eventually settling in South Africa. They are the second largest ethnic group in South Africa and are native speakers of the Xho ...

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. According to Dr

Amitabh Mitra Amitabh Mitra is an Indian-born South African physician, poet and artist. Education and career Mitra studied medicine and did postgraduate studies in orthopaedic surgery at the Gajara Raja Medical College, Gwalior, India. He further specialise ...

: "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 The São Paulo Art Biennial ( Portuguese: ''Bienal de São Paulo'') was founded in 1951 and has been held every two years since. It is the second oldest art biennial in the world after the Venice Biennale (in existence since 1895), which serves as ...

, 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 civilian honour that recognises achievements in arts, culture, literature, music, journalism, and sports. Before the order was established on 30 November 2003, such achievements were recognised by the ...

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

* * Fernand F. Haenggi

Updated 7 April 2017

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feni, Dumile 1942 births 1992 deaths Recipients of the Order of Ikhamanga South African painters