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, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where ...

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), in Gauteng Province, South Africa. It lies east of Johannesburg and southeast ...

, 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, Mpumalanga, Emalahleni Local Municipality. The name Witbank is Afrikaans for "white ridge", and is named ...

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Nguni languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It shares bor ...

. He became active in the struggle against the

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 ...

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 (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

at the

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...

, 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 constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art and design university in London, England. The college offers further and higher education programmes, including postgraduate and PhD awards. ...

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

, the

London College of Printing The London College of Communication is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. Its origins are in education for the printing and retail industries; it now specialises in media-related subjects including advertising, animation ...

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated to MDX) is a public research university based in Hendon, northwest London, England. The university also has campuses in Dubai and Mauritius. The name of the university is ...

and the

University of East London University of East London (UEL) is a public university located in the London Borough of Newham, London, England, based at three campuses in Stratford, London, Stratford and London Docklands, Docklands, following the opening of University Squar ...

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

and the

University of KwaZulu-Natal The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN; , ) is a public research 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 ...

. 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 singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...

, Phuthuma Nhleko, 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 town in Eswatini located in between Eswatini's two main cities, Mbabane and Manzini. It falls under the Hhohho Region, Hhohho region, with Mbabane being its city and Lusushwana river being the nearest river. It is found between Ezulw ...

, COSATU House, Johannesburg, and Dieploof, Soweto. Until 2010, more than a decade after his return from exile, Ntuli had never exhibited in his own country, holding his first exhibition in South Africa that year at Museum Africa,

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 ...

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

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (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, UNISA has over 400,000 student ...

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

Durban Art Gallery The Durban Art Gallery, situated in Durban, South Africa, holds the status of a municipal art gallery under the administration of the by eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality. Its origins trace back to its establishment in 1892, making it a longsta ...

and the UNISA Gallery,

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

. 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 the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic. The exhibition won a Global Fine Art people's choice award, and was subsequently shown at the 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, 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 a historical museum in Newtown, Johannesburg, South Africa. History The museum was established in 1933, when the Johannesburg Public Library bought a large quantity of A ...

, 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, 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