UMbulumakheqe is a collaborative exhibition by visual artist Ande Magoso and poet/storyteller Mbali Malimela.

There is a way of being that existed, Emandulo. It was law amongst the people of the time, that praise songs, stories, chants, and the fundamental truths of the human condition could only be shared after nightfall, by the elders. They tended to preface every story with a caveat that these are fairy stories, Izinganekwane. It was advised that narrating these stories during daylight would cause the elders who tell them to grow horns. For this reason, the people of the land would only share these stories in the evening.

Sanibona.

To each and every one of you. Along with all of your ancestors, your stories, and the forces of light you carry with you. We honour and see you, all of you. Welcome to the world of uBab’UMbulumkheqe. A story that has been around for millennia. And unbeknownst to Ande, was being told by usis’Mbali Malimela. The way she tells it is breathtaking. Lenganekwane ka- bab’UMbulumakheqe explores the journey of a man who is always in two worlds, in more ways than one… his mother on the one hand, intombi yale, eMpuma nekapa, KwaMxenge. His father, on the other hand, udabuka phansi kwisizwe sika Majozi. He himself, ubab’UMbulumakheqe lives in one world, when the woman he knows is destined for him lives in a faraway world… eMumbe.

The duality you are beginning to sense in this story is a central theme of the kind of ancient magic that guided usis’Mbali Malimela to cross paths with Ande Magoso, a young man who is born of a Xhosa woman and a Zulu man, and as one half of a set of twins. So you see, this duality is coded into his being, too. And unbeknownst to sis’Mbali, Ande has been telling visual stories all his life, about existing and moving across multiple worlds. About the richness and depth of duality.

The characters depicted in Ande’s stories possess characteristics and qualities that were unmistakably resonant with those described in inganekwane ka- bab’UMbulumakheqe. And so it began, worlds and stories that up until that point, had been shared in parallel with each other finally converged.

The auditory story and the visual scenes disappeared into, and emerged as one another. Inganekwane exoxwa emini, libalele… and carries on, deep into the night, and continues still when dawn breaks.In their worlds, sis’Mbali and Ande, they discovered that the elders who possess the ancient knowledge systems that are fundamental to the thriving of a people could no longer afford to limit their storytelling to the evenings. And so they grew ram horns on their heads and sheep fur on their faces because of all the daytime stories that were being passed around.

This world you are about to experience, therefore, is the merging an existence of many worlds into one super- consciousness. Follow us, please, into this magical place. We have been intentional about cultivating it to be honest, sincere and the most authentic representation of themes such as love, and longing, and loss, and journey, and everything in between.

We hope you emerge on the other side with a sense of a renewed reality, through this mythology. We hope you interface with the alchemy of how ubab’UMbulumakheqe harnesses the ancient wisdom of the first people.

We hope the transformation is natural and effortless, as it was for usis’Mbali, NoAnde, noNtobeko, noNdabezinhle, noHloniphani, noThulebona, and the legion birthed from the convergence of each of their lineages. We hope the

rich spirit of these worlds stays with you as it has stayed with them, as they have navigated their way through this

collaboration.

Sesiyivala,

Siyabonga. We honour you and we see you. All of you.

Collaborators:

Ande Magoso - Visual Artist

Mbali Malimela - Poet and Storyteller

Ntobeko Chiliza - Sculptor

Ndabezinhle Mntungwa - Vocalist

Hloniphani Mthethwa - Guitarist and Vocalist

Thulebona Mcineka - Vocalist