For multidisciplinary artist Buhlebezwe Siwani, art is more than just a practice or an expression, it’s a powerful medium to heal the body, soul and spirit.
With her new exhibition titled “Iyeza,” Siwani provides a window into the scared world of ancestral beliefs and indigenous practices, African religion and culture, African history and spirituality.
“Iyeza” draws on Siwani’s memories, journey and practice as an initiated traditional healer.
Iyeza is a Xhosa word which usually refers to plant-derived medicine or “a substance that is meant to ward off dark spiritual energy” and call in the good.
“These spiritual energies are intrinsic to my work and form the central ideas around the exhibition pieces, how our bodies and spirits are tied to the earth and waters on and in which we are born and raised,” said Siwani.
“The land and water are healing on their own, it is medicine, the breed medicine.”
With “Iyeza”, Siwani unpacks the many forms and uses of plants in “traditional medicines, rituals and daily life”.
Through video and sculpture, Siwani presents the flora of the show’s title using wood, imphepho, eucalyptus tree stumps, grass, alongside imbola, umkhando and soil as part of the materials that create these works.
“The installations represent different forms of African spiritualism but I was also thinking about where my ancestors are from, most of them are from the Eastern Cape,” she said.
“So I was thinking about the aloe forex and I was thinking about imphepho and the church belts.
“As black people we use prayer, we use muti (traditional medicine) … we have amanzi (water)... we have different things that we use to cleanse and heal ourselves.
“I was trying to bring them all together in one video, to go fetch the spirit of our ancestors. It's a place of rebirth. It's a place of baptism. It's a place of cleansing.”
Take away from the exhibition.
“I’m very excited because this is my first time exhibiting in Johannesburg. I grew up in Mofolo Village, Soweto but I’ve never exhibited in Johannesburg before.
“I hope this is the beginning of a conversation, which is not a conversation that's limited to artists but to the community at large.”
Siwani wants guests to come and experience her art and hopefully walk away with a renewed sense of hope, “a sense of knowing that something is coming and that something is happening”.
“Most importantly, I hope that everybody will learn something and will go inquire a little bit more about their history and about us as a whole.”
Siwani was crowned the 2021 Standard Bank Young Artist winner (SBYA)for Visual Art. As part of the winning prize, she was commissioned to present a new body of work at the 2022 National Arts Festival, in Makhanda, where “Iyeza” premiered.
“I’m taking a moment to finally take it all in. It’s been a ride. It’s been weird, being the recipient of the Standard Bank Young Artist Award, right after Covid,” she said.
“When we were supposed to have something to celebrate us and us to be announced, it had to be done online. South Africa went on lockdown. And then, I was stuck in Paris, so I’m back home and this is the first time I’m hearing congratulations.
“It’s a moment for me. I don’t know why it’s so difficult but I’m proud of myself because it was a difficult time for me when I got the award. I had been going through a divorce. I was away from home. I was dealing with immigration. I was also heavily pregnant.
“So, when I got the news, there were so many emotions and now to give birth to this again, I’m like ‘you did it’ even through all of that.
“This is why this exhibition is a love letter to home. Since I was a child, I always wanted to be a recipient of the Standard Young Artists Award but I never thought I would get it. Being part of this prestigious legacy is amazing but it is also scary.
“I’ve never been one for validation. I don’t expect it because my work is difficult. I don't care if you don’t see me as long as you see the work because the work is not about me, it’s about our people.”
“Iyeza” is currently on at the Standard Bank Gallery until April 8.