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Born in Nairobi, Kenya in 1957, Fiona Manicom moved to South Africa as a young child. She was formally trained in Graphic Fine Art and Photography at the Johannesburg College of Art and in painting at the University of South Africa. For the past 20 years, Fiona has worked as a freelance artist, photographer, designer and book illustrator; and has also lectured in drawing and painting. Her work stands in many private and public collections including Sun International and Stanlib in Johannesburg.
Her 2004 solo exhibition entitled "Contemplate the Silent Symbols" at Zuva Gallery in Johannesburg was opened by legendary South African artist Willem Boshoff. Richly researched, beautifully executed and impeccably displayed, this exhibition highlighted mixed media works on canvas that combined oil painting and collage with traditional Kuba textiles from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. While still maintaining the artistry and integrity of decades-old textiles from Central Africa, Manicom added her own vision and technical ability to create a rare blend of timeless modernity steeped in cultural understanding.
"The roots of this exhibition go back to 1993. I was, at that time, studying African Art and Anthropology at UNISA.
Around the same time, a number of African carvings and textiles, including Congo Raffia "Kuba skirts" and "Shoowa velvets" began appearing at various Johannesburg markets. These were vastly different from the typical African tourist curios; and instead resembled items, I had seen before, in important collections, such as, the "Standard Bank Foundation Collection of African Art", and an African art exhibition at the Studio Gallery, University of Witwatersrand, in May 1989.
I was surprised to find that a few pieces in the markets were marked with accession numbers, and wondered if they could have been part of a public collection. For more information, I wrote to Marc Leo Felix, head of the Congo Basin Art History Research Centre in Brussels, an expert on the art of the Congo and the author of "100 People of Zaire and their Sculpture".
While he acknowledged that many excellent studies have been made during the last hundred years, he believed too that, sadly, Africa had been 'stripped' by European art dealers and collectors, many self-taught and ignorant, happy to dictate meanings to the artworks, which were mere reflections of reality and truth. Many discoveries remain to be made, and many questions are still to be answered.
A friend of mine began collecting Kuba textiles to use as cushion covers, chair upholstery and home decor. She was the first person to set this popular trend in South Africa. Throughout her home, she hung Kuba skirts (Ntshak) as blinds. These cloths gradually disintegrated in the sunlight, and when they became too brittle and torn to function, I purchased them from her.
I decided to work with these Raffia cloth remnants in a way that would be part of a journey into the world of the people who had created them; as well as a way of fusing specific cultural myths and historical ideas about Africa, with ideas and concerns of the modern world.
The fragmented cloths reminded me of the fragmented, distorted history of Africa, especially the erased history of the Congo. No country in Africa has suffered the consequences of European interference more than the Congo, which continues to spiral from one tragic situation to the next...
I decided to use the collective 'torn' elements of the Congo as a metaphor for the situation we find ourselves in, in the wounded world of today. As we enter the twenty-first century, we are faced with a world in turmoil - both environmentally and politically unstable. This could be due to modern ideals of 'survival of the fittest', 'everyone for himself', 'the super-powers of the world draining the sap from the poorer countries'. These ideals are shortsighted, unsustainable and against natural principles.
Africa, the oldest and least understood civilization, despite its poverty, has a spirit and soul that deeply touches human consciousness. I believe that this has a lot to do with the richness of the myths, information and knowledge that was passed down through the generations by storytellers. The storytellers were the elders, entrusted to safeguard and pass on the knowledge that subsequent generations needed - their history, who their friends and foes were, herbal remedies, spiritual advice and so forth. Integrity of storytellers and validity of imparted knowledge was ensured by an absolute belief in the power of ancestral spirits, and the dire consequences of failing in the process of storytelling. The importance of knowledge and spiritual beliefs was stressed through sacred symbols in carvings, weavings and other crafts.
While storytelling itself was effective, its scale and power was amplified by another African phenomenon. A vast network of footpaths joins every part of Africa. This network allows people to relay and disperse knowledge. It is not surprising that the Zulus in the south of Africa share the same knowledge of places, such as the Crystal Mountains, as the people in Central Africa.
I began my paintings as a symbol of these African footpaths. I chose to leave the paintings unframed, as an object-orientated approach to emphasize open channels of communication. The canvas are either the width of a footpath (roughly the length of a man's forearm or one cubit), or wider, to symbolize meeting places (indabas).
Other silent symbols in the paintings are patterns: salvaged from the torn cloths, presented neutrally in flat space, quietly speaking of time past, present and future.
The research for these paintings has given me much intellectual stimulation and soul-searching humility as I have felt a connectedness with the humble weavers in a tiny part of the vast Congo. Through the fragility of these images, I have been reminded of the pattern of humanity that connects us all in our radically changing world where new myths are rising all around...
As Teilhard de Chardin, the visionary French Jesuit, paleontologist, biologist and philosopher said "We have reached a crossroads in human evolution where the only road which leads forward is toward a common passion... To continue to place our hopes in a social order achieved by external violence would simply amount to our giving up all hope of carrying the Spirit of the Earth to its limits".
We need to change to evolve the potential power of human consciousness. All of us have Africa inside us - we need to contemplate her ancient wisdom, cosmology and mystical traditions, and infuse them with our new sciences, to fulfill our desire to walk once again the path we were meant to."
by Fiona Manicom
tel 480-488-6000 * 1-800-721-ZUVA * scottsdale@zuvagallery.com
Zuva Gallery * Melrose Arch * 14 The High St. * Johannesburg 2076
tel 011-684-1214 * johannesburg@zuvagallery.com
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