vuselela

Vuselela was the first public exhibition of the Keiskamma Art Project. Nguni cows emerged as a central theme of the exhibition and over subsequent years became an integral part of the artists’ collective vision. The iconography of cattle, which invokes the story of the nineteenth century Xhosa prophetess Nongqawuse, becomes increasingly prominent in the Project’s later artworks. The story of Nongqawuse is one of the most contested narratives in the oral and written histories of the Eastern Cape region. Nongqawuse was a young Xhosa girl whose alleged prophecies led to large-scale destruction of the Xhosa peoples’ cattle and crops between 1857 and 1866, resulting in widespread famine and hardship. Aware of the tensions between her people and the colonial forces, Nongqawuse informed the elders that in exchange for destruction of their cattle and crops the ancestral spirits had promised to drive the British settlers into the sea and bring back an abundance of grain and livestock. What ensued instead was starvation, poverty and immense suffering. The Keiskamma artists chose to focus less on this devastating outcome than on Nongqawuse’s vision of restoration and prosperity in the story. At once acknowledging the cruel injustices of the past and expressing hope for the country’s future, they sought to fulfil Nongqawuse’s prophecy of renewal and end her historic scapegoating for the tragedy of the Cattle Killings of 1856-7. The embroidered Nguni cows become a symbol of women’s wealth and well-being, challenging patriarchal custom, and honour the sacredness of lobola as a link to the bride’s family and ancestral lineage.