Dumile Feni

Dumile Feni
Feni (left) and jazz drummer Louis Moholo in 1971
Born
Zwelidumile Geelboi Mgxaji Mslaba Feni

(1942-05-21)May 21, 1942
Withuis, Worcester, South Africa
DiedOctober 16, 1991(1991-10-16) (aged 49)
New York City, U.S.
Burial place
Lenasia, South Africa
OccupationArtist
Children1

Zwelidumile Geelboi Mgxaji Mhlaba "Dumile" Feni (May 21, 1942 – October 16, 1991) was a South African contemporary visual artist known for both his drawings and paintings that included sculptural elements, as well as for his sculptures, which often depicted the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa. Feni lived in exile and extreme poverty for most of his art career.

Early life

Feni was born in the small farmstead of Withuis in Worcester, Cape Province, South Africa, to parents Geelbooi Magoqwana, a trader and evangelist, and Bettie Nothemba Mgxaji, a business woman. When he was young, Feni's family relocated to the Welcome Estate in Cape Town. His family were Xhosa people.

Career

Composition for a Memoriam (1969) in the exhibition Afro-Atlantic Histories at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, in 2022

Feni's work often tied to the period of Apartheid in South Africa. He lived in self-imposed exile from 1968 to 1991 based between London, Los Angeles and New York.

He moved to the United States in 1978. He was an artist in residence at the Institute of African Humanities in Los Angeles, at the University of California.

According to Dr Amitabh Mitra: "The common man in present day South Africa is largely unaware of Dumile Feni's work and the Contemporary South African Art movement touts him as a 'Goya of Townships'. Dumile Feni represented much more than that."

In 2026, Feni's Apartheid-era pencil and charcoal mural African Guernica, described by The Guardian as an "unnerving juxtaposition of man and beast, light and dark, and innocence and cruelty", was exhibited at Madrid's Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía alongside its namesake, the first time it had been displayed outside of South Africa.

Documentary

In 2010, a documentary called Zwelidumile was released. It was created by South African filmmaker Ramadan Suleman.

Personal life

Feni's first name, Zwelidumile, means "a person known all over the country."

Feni died in New York on 16 October 1991.

Feni has a daughter named Marriam Diale.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

Group exhibitions

Awards

Selected works and publications

References

  1. ↑ "Dumile Feni". South African History Online. 23 December 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  2. ↑ Reuss, Sophia (29 September 2015). "Dumile Feni Biography". South African History Online. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  3. ↑ Jason, Stefanie (12 September 2014). "Dumile Feni's exhibition a timely take on being black". Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  4. ↑ Nettleton, Anitra (2011). "Writing Artists into History: Dumile Feni and the South African Canon". African Arts. 44 (1): 8–25. doi:10.1162/afar.2011.44.1.8. JSTOR 41330703.
  5. ↑ "Bonhams : Dumile Feni-Mhlaba (Zwelidumile Mxgazi) (South African, 1942–1991) 'The Prisoner' 148cm (58 1/4in) high". www.bonhams.com. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  6. ↑ Carew, Douglas (26 January 2002). "Artists Luthili masks brought home after 33 years in exile". Weekend Argus. Archived from the original on 26 February 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2017 – via sahistory.org.za.
  7. ↑ Williamson, Sue (2011). South African art now. Collins Design. p. 42. ISBN 9780061343513.
  8. ↑ Mitra, Amitabh (6 July 2008). "Dumile Feni an artist misunderstood". boloji.com.
  9. ↑ Jones, Sam (27 March 2026). "'The violence of racist tyranny': African Guernica goes on display alongside Picasso masterpiece". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
  10. ↑ Zvomuya, Percy (16 September 2011). "Known only by his absence". Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  11. ↑ Feni, Dumile; Dube, Prince Mbusi (2006). Dumile Feni Retrospective: Johannesburg Art Gallery (PDF). Johannesburg: Johannesburg Art Gallery. ISBN 978-1-868-14442-6. OCLC 82364701. Retrieved 8 February 2016. Catalog of a retrospective exhibition held at the Johannesburg Art Gallery, Jan. 31-Apr. 10, 2005, the Oliewenhuis Art Museum, May 17–June 17, 2005, and the South African National Gallery, Aug. 13–Nov. 4, 2005[permanent dead link]
  12. ↑ https://sahistory.org.za/people/dumile-feni
  13. ↑ "Zwelidumile". Africalia Belgium. 2010. Archived from the original on 19 May 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  14. ↑ "Dumile Feni (1939 - 1991): The Order of Ikhamanga in Gold". The Presidency: Republic of South Africa. 2 December 2003. Archived from the original on 4 April 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2016. Awarded to Dumile Feni (1939 -1991) for Exceptional achievement in the field of arts and contribution to the struggle against apartheid