Menu

Ferlov Mancoba

Audio file 109-1

Henter lyd
Time
Keywords
Description
Comment
African art

Wonga on Ernest's contact with African sculptures in South Africa through visiting villages with Gerard Sekoto; Wonga opines on the two objects gifted to Ernest by the African sculptor

African art

Wonga comments on staffs over masks in Southern Africa; Wonga compares the chieftain staff gifted to Ernest and Western kings' staffs

African heritage, African art

As the staff is important, Wonga wants more details from Ernest; Wonga considers the sculptor wanting to transmit African heritage to Ernest as he readies to leave Africa behind; Ernest disputes he is leaving Africa behind, they argue

African heritage

Wonga focuses his question on what heritage Ernest believes the sculptor is passing to him with the gift, but they argue; eventually they agree that the sculptor wanted Ernest to take courage on his journey

African heritage, African art

Wonga observes a parallel between Ernest's experience and Africa that must also adapt to the modern world and make own decisions (refers to Nelson Mandela), leading to his interpretation of art as expressed in the African sculptor's gesture

[tape stopped and restarted] Wonga asks about the African saying and phrasing

"Indaba Zabantu" means the affairs/news of the African people

colonialism

[tape stopped and restarted] Ernest speaks of African women's dispersion of African men for losing to whites

translations of isiXhosa phrases:
"kwa ku tsheni abelungu batathe bonke ababantu bethu" means why did you allow white people to take our humanity;
"Zinkomo(ma gwala)" means cowards

colonialism, African heritage

[tape stopped and restarted] Ernest explains about a Xhosa cloth; [tape stopped and restarted] Wonga raises issue of craft versus art, touristic craft versus the craft base of African art; they agree that White intervention destroys indigenous culture, discussing the Ndebele culture as an example

Wonga digresses into impact of cultural contacts; they speak of jazz and ask if freedom is necessary to make art

Ernest sings a song from black enslaved people in America and they discuss the history that caused the song to be made

[tape ends]

Facts

PDF
Audio clip
46:56
Ernest Mancoba
Wonga Mancoba
Wonga revisits the African chieftain stick gifted to Ernest (see recording 103-1) leading them to discuss loss of culture with colonialism.

About the recordings: Ernest Mancoba's son, Marc also known as Wonga, recorded interviews with his father. The interviews seemed to serve different purposes and are not in chronological order.

ca.1990-2002 (109-1)

The audio files are undated but is likely to have been recorded some time between 1990 and 2002
Time index and commentary prepared by W. Sze and translations from isiXhosa to English by Ayanda Gift Masimini 
Paris
Nelson Mandela
Gerard Sekoto
Estate of Ferlov Mancoba