South African artist Madoda Fani I Vía Tres
Invited by the National School of Ceramics (ENC), South African artist Madoda Fani arrives in Mexico to share the knowledge of the native cultures of Africa in the ceramic workshop Modeling the Soul in Clay, Masibumbe, held by the institution with South Africa as guest country this year 2023.
From September 24 to October 8, the ceramist will teach Mexican and foreign students the techniques of manual construction, decoration, burnishing and wood burning traditional in the pottery of South Africa’s indigenous groups, as well as its contemporary evolution, which have consecrated his work as an internationally renowned art.
Born in 1975, during the Apartheid years in South Africa, Fani grew up in Cape Town and studied graphic design at Sivuyile Technical College.
To earn money and further his studies, he worked as a ceramic painter in several pottery workshops, which led to the birth of his love for clay and gradually developed his own pieces and style.
In 2000, his work was selected for the International Artisan Salon of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. There he met the ceramist Simon Masilo, who initiated him in the smoking technique.
In 2009, he moved to Johannesburg and began to deepen his knowledge of the craft under Masilo’s guidance; he subsequently entered the Kim Sacks School of Ceramics.
Zulu burnishing
She learned the burnishing technique from Jabu Nala, daughter of legendary Zulu potter Nesta Nala, and mastered the smoking processes under the guidance of Nic Sithole. According to Madoda Fani, these two artists helped him become the artist he is today.
Inspired by the heritage of the Xhosa culture, to which he belongs, Fani crafts large sculptures by hand, using the ancestral techniques of churro and burnishing, and wood burning.
However, his pieces are a contemporary evolution of the traditional indigenous pottery of southern Africa thanks to their organic forms, whose smooth surfaces are marked by intricate, repetitive patterns that give them a scaly, insect-like appearance.
“Currently, nature plays an important role in my inspiration for the design and decoration of my work. I combine the love I have for exoskeletons and my fascination with the history of ceramics, making reference to the ancient techniques of churro, forms, engraving, burnishing and wood firing.”
His work has led him to exhibit at the Southern Guild Gallery in South Africa, local art fairs such as Investec Art Fair, as well as several international art shows, including Design Miami in the United States and Maison Art Fair in France, to name a few.
In addition, Fani’s work is in the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was a finalist for the LOEWE Foundation Craftsmanship Award in 2022.
The workshop to be given by the artist is part of the South African year at the National School of Ceramics, which previously featured ceramicists Roelof Uys and Clive Sithole.
The National School of Ceramics is a civil association that seeks to create a global community of great artistic stature that finds a niche of preparation in Mexico, for which intensive workshops are held annually with important guest teachers from Spain, Japan, Germany, China, Mexico, the United States, Peru and South Africa.
In a country with a deep pottery tradition since pre-Hispanic times and of great international relevance, until 2016 Mexico did not have a specialized education in this field. The ENC, located in Tapalpa, Jalisco, is a multicultural space focused on education and research that has come to revolutionize the national ceramic work.
Integration, interaction with different cultures and the diversity of ceramic techniques in Mexico have been fundamental to this project, because they build a creative dialogue with our tradition and generate communicating vessels that transcend borders.
