tonygumstudio:

AMAMPONDOMISE (Phonetically / AMA-MPO-NDO-MI-SE)  - Known as the ‘royals’ of the Xhosa ‘tribes’. Mpondomise women, in their intricate and elaborate dress, have a very particular way of wrapping their head wraps. A complex, regal and structured approach to creating headgear, attests to the elaborate often revered class and nature of Mpondomise women. Several almost architectural lines in the headgear adorned by this royal tribeswoman are captured in the artist’s photographic depiction. Tony adds that this particular traditional headdress and details in a dome-like structure can be likened to the St. Peters Basilica in Rome, which is known as the ‘Holy’ church. Given the prominence of Catholic religion globally, it is generally recognized as the ‘ruling’ body or ‘system’ from a religious perspective. Through sculpture and photography, Gum draws a personified parallel between the Mpondomise woman and the Catholic system focusing specifically on the intricacies of her traditional headdress. Gum aptly likens the lines, folds, and beadwork in the royal Mpondomise head wrap in her white clay molded sculpture to the bold aspects, lines, and curvatures of the Saint Peters dome.

The artist draws further parallels of the Mpondomise’s nqawe (pipe), the rituals and processes and leadership in this tradition to, the process of electing a Papal in the Conclave which has remained virtually unchanged for 800years. When Black smoke arises, it indicates a Pope has not been elected whilst white smoke appearing from the chimney indicates to those waiting outside they have a new Pope. Through this body of work, Gum requires her audience to consider the relevance of global systems and adaptations in the modern world juxtaposed to traditional African ‘systems’ many of which predate the examples she references. Whilst the beauty, grace and serenity Gum has captured in her sculptural and photographic work, she draws her audience in further with such inclusions as the falling arm, this time in its clasp, a smoke vessel used as part of the religious ritual within the Church. Gum, therefore, ponders, ‘through inqawe yakhe (her pipe), her lungs act as the “Mpondomise Conclave”, and the announcement is made through the distinctive white smoke released from her mouth; highly symbolic of her royal stature and presence, why are African systems of culture, leadership and governance systems often deemed ‘uncivilized’? We were never uncivilized; we were working according to our own systems and methods. We were building things, we were creating temples, we were creating monuments with gold and various intricate tools, but then we were stopped in our tracks and put on pause’ Gum protests. The inference being, if systems and structures of governance and leadership inherent to Xhosa culture specifically remained intact,  ‘we would have women leaders elevated to these very plinths seen in our midst today’.

- Tony Gum

Rock Cause Analysis (2018) narrative written by Lungi Morrison