KARU UWONE / GROW UP AND SEE by Lionel Mbayiwa

June 30.06.22 - August 11.08.22

Long Gallery. An ArtReach co-production

I grew up in the countryside of my homeland, where African culture is rich. Performing rituals like bringing back the spirits of the dead to protect and guide the living ones, and storytelling around the fire at night was very fascinating to me, yet I never knew that I would eventually tell these stories through my art.

There was a type of system in place where young adults left the countryside to go job-hunting in the city, and came back with a different lifestyle and some money to support the elders who had played a pivotal role in raising them. I thought I would be free to do whatever I wanted as an adult; life looked simple and easy, but as I grew older, I realised it wasn’t that simple - it was a live and learn situation. I also joined the same system of job-hunting and left home.

Now, here I am today living in a foreign land because of the ruthless regime in my homeland. I left what was used to be ‘the breadbasket of Africa,’ and I’m working very hard to raise my children who can hardly communicate in my mother's tongue, where I am called names and walk with a copy of my ID book just in case I meet the authorities asking for papers. I am at the point where I get homesick, but I cannot visit my homeland as I wish. Chimurenga music - and the eyes and spirit of the ones who came before me - keeps me going and gives me hope.

KARU UWONE is a Nguni proverb, which is not necessarily to scare us but to warn and remind us as we grow, even when we think we have seen it all but there are some more challenges in life to be met. Who knew, as old as we are, that we were going to be forced to a global pandemic, vaccines, total lockdown, and two years of face masks and online meetings?

Hence, the elders of the Nguni tribe said KARU UWONE / KULA UBONE – GROW UP AND SEE.

My beliefs and culture have shaped the way I conceptualise, and my upbringing informed the way I put my thoughts into my work. I do this through painting, drawing, sculpture, and photography...

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KARU UWONE / GROW UP AND SEE by Lionel Mbayiwa

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