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Writing on the walls
Fordsburg is a living, breathing ode to Allah. Islam is the connecting force between the many nationalities and cultures found here. It is in the food, fashions and, literally, the writing on the walls.
Nestled between the homeless sleeping on Crown Road and the panel beaters on Commercial Road is a small, unassuming art gallery beneath a black-and-white sign that reads Orient Art Gallery. This cluttered but vibrant corner shop is known as the birthplace of Islamic art in Johannesburg.
The Orient Art Gallery is a family business that started as a framing store on the rooftop of the Oriental Plaza in 1990. It was founded by Farhad Limbada in 1989 when he was given an old run-down store to start his own business. At the time, the only business Farhad knew well was framing.
Farhad learnt his trade from his father Limson Limbada, who was a sign maker for the Johannesburg municipality. After being retrenched from his job, Limson opened a framing store on Johannesburg’s West Rand called Limson’s Picture Framers: Limbada and Sons. This was the beginning of the family business that would later become South Africa’s first Islamic art gallery.
According to the Khan Academy, the term Islamic art emerged after the 19th century. It was developed to describe a field of study that focused on visual artworks produced in Muslim-ruled nations after the 7th century. Islamic art is not limited to any medium, craft or religion. It includes architecture, wood and ivory carvings, calligraphy, ceramics and textiles from the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia. Even works produced by Christian artists in such regions were considered Islamic art. Traditionally, Islamic art is defined by its craftsmanship.
Islamic art serves many purposes in the Islamic faith. It can be used for religious expression, temple decoration and as objects used during worship and other traditional ceremonies. As the Islamic faith grew, so did the spread of Islamic art. Today, Islamic art can be found in many countries where there is a Muslim population.
‘This is not the kind of business you can buy or just start. You have to be born into it. I literally grew up here. When other kids went home after school, I came here. When things were tough, I slept on these floors,’ Ridwaan says.
Leading up to the liberation of South Africa, so-called non-whites were allowed more freedom of association and movement than apartheid had previously allowed. Many bans on politicians, media publications and artists were also lifted. In 1994, “there was a shift in the art circles. People were hungry for something new,” says Ridwaan Limbada as he explains how his father’s business evolved.
Farhad saw this new-found freedom as an opportunity to grow his framing business. He started importing traditional Islamic art from Egypt, Turkey and Iran. This paved the way for Ridwaan to join the business they now run together.
Ridwaan, his father’s right-hand man
Farhad never wanted any one of his three sons to take over the business. He always said “this business is too difficult and unpredictable,” says Ridwaan, the oldest son. But for him, joining the business was inevitable. From a young age, Ridwaan was his father’s right-hand man.
“This is not the kind of business you can buy or just start. You have to be born into it. I literally grew up here. When other kids went home after school, I came here. When things were tough, I slept on these floors,” Ridwaan says.
Ridwaan’s mother is also an artist and, with both parents trying to make it work in the fickle art industry, they often had to spend several nights working at the store. His mother used some of her art pieces to help him with his homework, learning and reciting the 99 names of Allah in Arabic.
Today, Ridwaan is an award-winning interior architect who has had a few of his own successful businesses. But he says his heart is in the family business. His formal education has allowed him to bring new ideas into the business.
It was at university where he learnt the history and theory of art and how to use different elements like colours, shapes and texture in artworks and furniture to create beautiful living spaces. Some customers have called on these skills to have their homes and offices redesigned incorporating Islamic art.
Ridwaan says it is their ability to innovate and give customers the best value for money that gives them the competitive edge over other stores.
“We are bringing products that weren’t used in art and art installations. We bank on new ideas,” he says.
The Orient Art Gallery now offers three different product categories: traditional and contemporary Islamic art, customised furniture, and framing. They have opened a store in Sandton City, called Frame Talk, and they are even exporting Islamic art to other Muslim regions on the African continent.
Although Frame Talk and the Orient Art Gallery sell similar products, the gallery is more of a studio space. At any given time one hears the buzzing sound of wood being cut at the back, where frames of all shapes and sizes are made. There is a workstation with paint brushes and murky-looking water next to some artwork still in progress.
‘Arabic calligraphy, however, is a specialised skill and an important aspect of Islamic art. Writer Umai Stambuli describes it as ‘the spiritual breath’ of Islamic art.’
Frame Talk, on the other hand, looks more like a showroom. Beautifully carved armchairs cushioned with soft, luxurious-looking fabrics like suede and velvet are the first thing one sees. The walls are decked with modern Islamic art and mirrors with detailed frames.
Different clientele at different stores
The clients at the two stores are also different. The people who shop at the Fordsburg store are usually looking for customised work whereas those who shop at the Sandton store are looking for ready-made art.
Many more Islamic art stores and galleries have opened since the Limbadas started. There is at least one Islamic art store between any two blocks in Fordsburg. Most of them sell traditional or generic Islamic art like framed Persian carpets or prayers from the Qur’an painted on canvases. For many people in this community, Islamic art is a form of religious expression.
Mahamoud Abdillah, a freelance artist from Pioneer Picture Framers, says: “People here don’t know the richness of this art. For them it’s just about what they believe.” He says he finds the Islamic art scene in Fordsburg “very” pretentious. He believes people buy Islamic art to keep up appearances of being a “good Muslim”.
Arabic calligraphy is the ‘the spiritual breath’ of Islamic art
Most of the artworks at Pioneer Picture Framers are canvas and ceramic pieces that have Arabic calligraphy on them. Abdillah explains that most of the texts are popular verses or prayers from the Qur’an, written in freestyle calligraphy. Freestyle calligraphy is not guided by any rules. The artist is free to manipulate the text to serve their creative purpose.
Arabic calligraphy, however, is a specialised skill and an important aspect of Islamic art. Writer Umai Stambuli describes it as “the spiritual breath” of Islamic art. To become a calligrapher for spiritual or artistic purposes, artists must not only learn how to write in Arabic but also gain a thorough understanding of the Islamic faith and Arabic history.
‘You can’t separate Islamic art from Arabic calligraphy, that is where the beauty and richness is.’
Unlike most Arab countries, South Africa does not have schools that provide formal training in Arabic calligraphy. Most artists here are self-taught through books, practice and short courses given by international artists who have held exhibitions and workshops here.
Abdillah comes from the Comoros Island, off the southeast coast of Africa, where he says “everybody can write Arabic. It doesn’t make you an artist.” Artists there write in all styles of Arabic calligraphy, including Turkish, Persian and Egyptian.
As ancient Arabs moved across Middle-Eastern regions building the Muslim Empire, their ways of writing merged with those of the nations they conquered. This resulted in slight differences in the calligraphy produced in those nations. Over time, rules were developed to regulate and standardise these various styles of calligraphy.
Abdillah’s face lights up when he says: “You can’t separate Islamic art from Arabic calligraphy, that is where the beauty and richness is.”
The intracies of Arabic calligraphy
In slightly broken English he explains the differences in the various styles of Islamic calligraphy: Egyptian calligraphy runs across, reading from side to side much like Western calligraphy. It often consists of solid vertical lines with the curvier alphabets forming the lower part of the text running horizontally. Turkish calligraphy is more congested and centralised.
The strokes are curvier and form circular text which runs across horizontal and vertical plains. Persian calligraphy is a top to bottom type of text made of sharper strokes that form diagonal lines.
Ridwaan agrees that Islamic art has become more commercialised. He says with Islamic art, Arabic calligraphy has become like Japanese or Chinese calligraphy in that most people do not know what it means but it appeals to them on an aesthetic level. But, unlike Muhammed, he does not have a problem with this. He sees it as an opportunity to widen the Islamic art market.
It is with this in mind that the Orient Art Gallery is gradually moving from using specialised calligraphers to training factory workers to reproduce popular Arabic calligraphy by tracing it, digitally reproducing it and using pre-cut stencils for some of the larger pieces.
When competition in the industry increased, Farhad developed the job card system to differentiate himself from the others. Unless the client asks for original Arabic calligraphy, a job card is developed giving one of the factory workers step-by-step instructions on how to produce a particular piece of Islamic art. This is how he has managed to produce good quality artworks, faster and at a cheaper price, for his clients.
This work production process has become standard practice in South Africa. Some factory workers have become very good at it and have gone on to have successful careers producing Islamic art locally.
The generic Islamic artworks at Orient Art Gallery range between R5 000 and R25 000. Depending on the scale, medium and detail, these figures can go up to R95 000. Works produced by reproduction artists are 40% cheaper than those produced by specialised calligraphers.
By industrialising the art of Arabic calligraphy, fusing it with modern abstract and glass art to introducing interior design as one of their service offerings, Orient Art Gallery aims to remain relevant not only to the Muslim community but also to the ever-changing Johannesburg art scene.
It has been 26 years and three generations since the Limbadas first opened their doors for business. It is safe to say that they have found a healthy balance between good business practices and reverence for Islamic art.
But for Abdillah, who is an orthodox Muslim and very passionate about what he does, Islamic art must go deeper than just looking beautiful. He believes that to appreciate it one must understand its historical relevance or, at the very least, have a deep religious reverence for it. For him it is not about the money.
Like Abdillah, the Limbadas are also Muslim. They too respect the religious rules and connotations of Islam when it comes to art. None of their artworks depict faces or people. With the exception of when it is being packaged or transported, all religious art is kept off the ground. Their studio space is kept clean and neat because according to the faith it is not allowed to keep sacred things in dirty places.
Farhad still tries to protect the sacredness of Islamic art. He ensures all work stops during Friday prayer time. He also keeps some reference books on Islam and Islamic art on a shelf next to his desk and encourages his workers to constantly ask questions and learn about the faith.
But Ridwaan says: “Sometimes ideas are only great in value.” He believes there is no point in investing time or reverence into something when it does translate to financial gain.
“This is a business at the end of the day; it must feed us and clothe us.”
FEATURED IMAGE: The first Islamic art gallery in Fordsburg, Orient Art Gallery, founded by Farhad Limbada in 1989. Photo: Sibongile Machika
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Review: A Night at the Ballet
Vuvu Rating: 8/10
The Joburg Ballet is proving yet again why it is considered the country’s largest and most prestigious professional ballet company, with its latest offering, the classic Don Quixote.
The romantic comedy is masterfully staged at the Joburg Theatre through vibrant costumes and scenery transporting the viewer into the world of 17th century Spain.
Don Quixote tells the story of a Don who is obsessed with finding adventure. On his quest for this adventure he meets the beautiful Kitri who is in love with a poor young barber, Basilio.
Kitri’s father does not approve of the match and has more ambitious marriage plans for her. The Don decides that Kitri is worth of his protection from all who may harm the young lady.
Prima-ballerina Burnise Silvius lived up to her reputation of being a vision of perfection, with every delicate move she made in the lead female role.
Jean Carlos Osma, as a toreador, and Javier Monier as a street boy, were notable as standout performers.
But despite the visual perfection of the dancers, their performances were not matched by that of the sound technicians at the theatre.
At times the music was too soft and transitions between tracks, usually seemless, were obvious to the audience. The sound issues were clearly distracting and broke the “illusion” of the imaginary world created through the performance.
Despite this though, the show remains a must see, and ends its run this Sunday, September 13.
Artist Siopis continues to inspire
Globally acclaimed South African artist Penny Siopis opened her latest exhibition Time and Again at the Wits Art Museum on Monday. A retrospective view on Siopis’ 30 years of artwork, Siopis remains relevant and inspirational.
RETROSPECTIVE VIEW: Exhibition-goers take a closer look at one of Penny Siopis’ works at the Wits Arts Museum in Braamfontein. Photo: Katleho Sekhotho
“Where’s Penny? Where’s Penny?” asked curator Fiona Rankin-Smith.
“Oh there she is,” says Rankin-Smith. “It’s wonderful to welcome Penny Siopis back to her second home.”
“Penny” is globally-renowned artist Penny Siopsis who on Monday opened a celebration of three decades of her work at an exhibition at the Wits Art Museum (WAM).
The evening was buzzing with many trying to get Siopis’ attention.
I was able to speak to her for just a few moments before she had to dash off. Kind and sweet, it was the first time I was able to put a face to the woman who had been an essential part in my visual arts learning in high school.
I want to dedicate the exhibition to my partner, my husband Colin Richards, who died very tragically and suddenly in 2012
Indeed the exhibition was focused around her many years of artwork, but more importantly her artwork was a commemoration to her late husband Colin Richards.
“I want to dedicate the exhibition to my partner, my husband Colin Richards, who died very tragically and suddenly in 2012, said Siopis. “He’s a very strong presence in the exhibition as he would be, and he’s also a very strong presence in the book that’s been published to coincide with the exhibition.”
Fellow artist Clive van den Berg introduced Siopis with the words, “Penny it gives me such profound happiness to celebrate with you, in loved ones present and absent, the results of 30 years of work.”
I first encountered the mythical idea of pink pinky as a child and then seeing that depicted in Siopis’ Pinky Pinky series of hand printed lithograph’s felt familiar.
As Van den Berg says: “So when we look at Pinky Pinky paintings or the so-called cake paintings, Penny’s method has already created a bridge for our understanding even before we think of their imagery.
”Similarly if we look at the history paintings which were formed by cutting and pasting illustrations from history books , the method, the sharply cut edges, the disjuncture of scale of association and narrative, tells us viscerally what she is doing before we put into words their basic premise.”
During her opening speech Siopis gave a heartfelt recount of the years of artwork that had finally lead her here:
“I also want to say that Clive has a very special meaning in my life, we were best friends when I first started out in Durban, we taught together … That was the time I made Queen Cakes and some of the earlier cake paintings. So to start this exhibition effectively in 1980 with the Queen Cakes and have Clive open the exhibition, and have Fiona here at WAM, putting a whole show together, is very, very special to me.
“So it’s this whole personal angle which is quite different,” she said.
Sipois said the exhibition includes her work up to 2012, when her husband passed away.
“There have been no works on this exhibition since he died. So for me the physical objects in this space mark his presence as much as my memory of him, and those who knew him at Wits would recognize in the exhibition.”
The exhibition ends on the 20th of July 2015.
Art or Vandalism: Graffiti and street art in Braamfontein
Perceptions of graffiti in Johannesburg range from it being beautiful artworks to malicious damage of property. Removal of graffiti is a difficult process and where to draw the line between vandalism and art is often difficult to find.
STREET ART: Graffiti on the corner of Henry and De Korte street, Braamfontein done by graffiti artist Rasty and crew. Photo: Samantha Camara
Hanre Heunis spends his time removing graffiti from other people’s property. The managing director of a local graffiti removal service, Heunis believes there is an artistic side to the practice of street art. He says many property owners think that graffiti is vandalism because they did not choose to have their walls defaced or tagged (when a new graffiti artist spray-paints their name on a wall to practice and develop their own style).
Property owners who have been the victims of repeated tagging often remove the tags because it makes their business premises look unprofessional or decreases the value of the property. “There is a fine line between being artistic and repeat tagging,” said Heunis.
There is a high concentration of graffiti in the inner city and removing it is a highly-skilled, specialised and expensive process, says Heunis. It involves chemical testing, high pressure water tanks and newly developed products that often need to be imported from the United Kingdom due to a lack of local manufacturing. Removal is also extremely labour intensive as more porous surfaces require more applications.
But perceptions are shifting especially when artists ask for permission, according to Vorster, an ex-Witsie who did his honours in Fine Arts. “If you wake up in the morning and someone’s tagged your window it sucks … get permission and do your art … you’ll be surprised how many people say yes.”
Graffiti artists find it exciting to work illicitly at night but it often means that the quality of the work decreases because there is less time and more pressure to get the work done in a short amount of time, according to Vorster.
The other side of the (street art) coin
ADDING COLOUR: Comic style graffiti done by American graffiti artist, Pose in De Korte street, Braamfontein. Photo: Samantha Camara
In Johannesburg there are a few designated walls for street art on Barry Hertzog Avenue and Empire Road but Brian* says these walls are mostly used for graffiti style advertising and the limited amount of wall space restricts the art.
One of Vorster’s first tags was a Vodacom telephone box, he saw it as a victory when the box was removed. Vorster now gets permission for his work and is often commissioned to do murals. One of his commissioned pieces was removed for safety reasons because people were constantly taking photos at the wall, which made the owner feel unsafe.
Brian* says he doesn’t mind his art being removed: “It [the art] has its lifespan. It doesn’t faze me, I just need to do more. For every one that is taken down, I need to put up another one.”
*Names have been changed.
Xhosa struggle is a black and white issue
UNSETTLING HISTORY: Cedric Nunn posing with some of his photographs from the Unsettled exhibition on the opening night. Photo Sibongile Machika
A black-and-white photographic exhibition highlighting the struggle of the Xhosa people opened at Wits Art Museum (WAM) this week.
The photographs, by acclaimed South African photographer Cedric Nunn, depict landscapes and buildings where key events took place.
The exhibition reflects the story of the Xhosa people that managed to resist British and Boer domination for 100 years in the Eastern Cape. The people in his portraits are the descendants of active participants in the wars and negotiations of that time.
“All this before the Shaka reign, yet history does not remember the Xhosas with the same glory.”
Nunn started his career documenting the realities of apartheid. His work mainly focuses on social change with particular interest in rural communities and issues. But reflecting a 100-year journey authentically was difficult. He said he focused on landscapes because land has an amazing ability to hold time. Black and white photography simply enhances that effect, said Nunn.
“This is an incredible story,” said Nunn. “That’s why I was drawn to it. Often people forget to see the good. Here is a nation that resisted British rule for 100 years,” Nunn said.
They had a dignity and code of conduct that carried them throughout the nine wars that played out at the time. “All this before the Shaka reign, yet history does not remember the Xhosas with the same glory,” said Nunn.
He said he felt a deep connection to this story because he is a descendant of a British settler who went on to marry a Zulu woman at time when it was seen as the ultimate taboo. More importantly this is a South African and that’s why it matters to him.
This project took three years to complete and was funded by Mellon Senior Scholar funding from Rhodes University. The scholarship allowed Nunn to be entrenched in the Grahamstown community while doing his work. Most of the pictures were shot in film so it took months before he could see the results of his work.
“More importantly this is a South African and that’s why it matters to him.”
Nunn said he hopes to leave a positive legacy for young South Africans and his exhibitions are one way of doing it. Unsettled depicts an important time in South African history and showcases the strength, dignity and humility of the Xhosa people which Nunn said he could still experience 150 years later.
Unsettled: One Hundred Years War of Resistance by Xhosa against Boer and British is showing from the 10th March to the 12th April 2015. WAM is open to the public Wednesday – Friday between 10a.m and 6p.m.
About those stacks of bricks you’ve seen on the Wits campus
HOME DÉCOR: Masters Students Jamy-Lee Brophy and Megan Heilig exhibit recreations of the home environment at various venues in and around campus. The displays are part of their new project which focuses on creating what they call ‘institutions’, which explores and examines what we as multicultural beings experience as an institution and the effects of this experience. Photo: Provided
You’ve probably seen the stack of bricks arranged outside the Wits School of Arts, the Great Hall and other random places around campus and been curious and confused about why they’re there.
As part of a new project, Wits Fine Arts students Jamy-Lee Brophy and Megan Heilig have collected unused bricks from campus and around Braamfontein and built small-scale structures they call ”institutions”.
The project focuses on exploring and examining the idea of what different institutions, especially homes, mean to us in Johannesburg and as students on campus.
“We’re questioning the ideas of institutions, and how institutions reinforce ideologies and constructions and we try and challenge them,” said Brophy. “We have collected bricks … and what we do from this is basically try to build an institution, one that can create a conversation in different spaces and one that’s kind of transitory.”
Heilig added: “I think an institution is an experience, so in everyone’s lives we experience things such as race, class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, cultural background, and all these things amalgamated within the city and especially in Johannesburg.”
Brophy and Heilig collected the bricks for free from people who wanted to get rid of them, but they also “stole” materials some of them from campus. Heilig said they stole materials because Wits wouldn’t give them funding for their project.
The duo also want to challenge and question the idea of claiming space on Wits campus. The current installation placed outside the Great Hall, which appear to be a pile of bricks, is seen as a “cornerstone”, the implication that there’s an institution outside of another institution. They move the bricks around to rebuild these institutions in various locations so that people will start talking about it and about why they’re doing it.
The focus of their project is somewhat political, and they look at political parties as institutions in themselves and what they represent or how they misrepresent. They created the Halfa Pitchca Party, which is their own organisation and which helps them examine the idea of the relationship between politics and art.
“I think that art is political, and that what’s happening here can be political and it can be social, and it can relate to other people,” said Heilig. “This thing is not just about art for art’s sake, we’re not painting to look how nice paint looks on a canvas, that’s not what all people do here.”
They want to encourage other students on campus to go to exhibitions held at places like the Substation and the Wits Art Museum and know that art is for everybody and something everybody can relate to. Their current project is a way of getting out on the streets and getting talking.
“We want people to know about it [exhibitions],” said Heilig. “We don’t want it to be this underground thing where only if you’re cool and in with the art kids you can come and check out their stuff, that’s bullshit. We need something fresh, something new, and we want to open up spaces in the city on the street and have spaces that we create, especially in the city.”
Selfies stretch back 300 years
The exhibition, From Sitting to Selfie, creates a history of the phenomenon of taking ‘selfie’. Photo: Tendai Dube.
The ‘selfie’ has had such an impact on society that the word itself is now part of the dictionary. To capture the history of the phenomenon, the Standard Bank Art Gallery is currently hosting the exhition the From Sitting to Selfie. The exhibition showcases the origins and history of the phenomenon, often seen to be the result of social media and camera phones.
“There is a lot of variety, it covers a long period of time”, said Sue Isaac, gallery administrator. The exhibition showcases 300 years of South African portraits, dating back to the 1617 with two portraits by Cornelis van der Voort, Portrait of a Gentleman and Portrait of a Lady.
The collection is proof that the obsession with one’s image has been around for much longer than Instagram selfies.
Capturing a moment in time is not necessarily external; art was created from a retina image from a visit to the optometrist. Another of metal carved into a skull by laser.
One of the more lighthearted time-stamps is a self-portrait of Mikhael Subotzky by Marc Nicolson after being stung by a bee in 2004.
“It’s like looking at Facebook, I just don’t get it [selfies]”, said Linda Engelbrecht, an art aficionado who visited the gallery. “I can’t imagine why people would want to publish bad photographs of themselves”, she added.
Curator Barbara Freemantle explained that sitting portraits in the past were done to “best capture the essence of another human” while selfies are “a memento or to document the photographer’s own presence at a particular occasion.
“I think it’s just a popular fad at the moment which I think will run its course, maybe not because we are all pretty egotistical, so perhaps it won’t”, said Isaac.
The exhibition ends on September 6 and is held on the corner Simmonds and Frederick street.
About WCJ
We Should Be Writing podcast
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