It’s about the representation of black women’s voices. And where and how they are represented. In largely male-dominated spaces and conversations.

Recently I posted a Insta story where I captioned Turiya Magadlela’s artwork currently being exhibited at Everard Read in Rosebank, Johannesburg, “We need more black women artists…”. The ellipsis was purposeful. It was intended to continue a conversation about representation. A friend messaged me shortly after I posted it to scold me, saying that there are many black women artists but they just don’t get enough praise. I agree but I feel she missed the point.

I talked about Zanele Muholi, Billie Zangewa, Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi, Nandipha Mntambo, Lady Skollie and Tony Gum but was lamenting lesser known artists and the lack of their solo shows and prominence in bigger art institutions. About them being referred to as unicorns. I’m talking mostly in South Africa.

I first studied art in high school as one of my six higher grade subjects and when I majored in art history and printmaking at Rhodes University in the late 90s, besides my older sister Nomzi Kumalo who later joined me to complete her art masters as I was finally wrapping up my degree, I was the only black woman not even in my art class, but the whole department.

I mean up until 1994, we weren’t even allowed into galleries to see what we could become, to be a part of or hope to collect.

Black people weren’t even allowed into galleries and museums. Black artists were exploited, in terms of their pricing.

Reading an article in the Mail & Guardian that talks about creating black art collectors, this is one of the parts that stood out for me the most - “Before 1994, black South Africans were barred entry to museums and art galleries where they could cultivate an interest in the arts and develop a sustainable relationship with it.

“‘Black artists were neglected by museums, collectors and art galleries,’ adds [curator and co-founder of the Black Collectors Forum (BCF), Andile] Magengelele. ‘Black people weren’t even allowed into galleries and museums. Black artists were exploited, in terms of their pricing. Post-1994 there were no boycotts, but [black] people were still not going to museums and galleries.

“‘[Black] artists still struggle to navigate the industry, and it’s because it was not our nature. But the department of arts and culture does not see why they should fund this initiative; they don’t get it.’”

When I made plans to move to Joburg to start my career as a curator I was laughed off by a few industry giants who told me that the only time positions became available, was when people left their posts because they had passed on. I’ll admit, as a fresh graduate, I felt daunted and could have pushed harder but life took a turn that saw me play in the beauty, fashion and media space (where I could nurture other passions of mine), with no regret.

For example the Tate recognised there was a huge gap in their collection and that art history has primarily been written from a Western perspective and collections need to be readdressed to include other perspectives.

I’ve rejoiced writing, commissioning, publishing and reading articles about other black women who have excelled as artists, curators and performers because I know it couldn’t have been easy.

Makgati Molebatsi, of Mak’Dct, which is an art advisory and agency has given a number of talks, of which I attended one at Kalashnikovv and the other at Guns and Rain. She spoke about how to start and build an art collection as well as understanding the value in and of an artwork.

Along with Kholisa Thomas, art collector, dealer, advisor and founder of The Art Talks, who I wrote about in a Q&A piece about collecting art, they are helping to shift patterns in the market where hopefully the demand for black women artists will grow and they’ll be given the recognition they deserve. Young or new talent also needs to be nurtured.

There are other drivers working in this space like Thuli Mlambo-James, founder and director of Ujamaa Arts, Pulane Kingston, “lawyer-turned-art collector and adviser” and Freda Isingoma, founder of Kiisa Art, an advisory, events and investment business focused primarily on Contemporary African and African Diaspora arts. Beyond a focus on women artists, they’re doing a lot of work to interrogate how, why and who makes and consumes art.

In another Mail & Guardian article, this time about Pulane, who they call a patron of Africa’s art, she says, “With the passage of time, and as I have come to understand the art ecosystem better, I have begun to actively focus on supporting modern and contemporary art that is produced by African female artists and those from the diaspora —what I casually term “gender mainstreaming” in art.

I remain perplexed by the statistics which demonstrate how, as in all other areas of human endeavour, women remain underrepresented, marginalised and excluded, irrespective of their talent and efforts.

It is only through intentionally supporting their work, supporting the publication of scholarly writing about their work, and more, that we can play a part in raising their profiles.”

Zamansele Nsele, an art historian and art history lecturer shared the following when she was named as M&G Top 200 Young South African 2018 is certainly leading the pack. She says when interviewed for the achievement that ‘she now plans to convert her dissertation into a book. “This is an important step because there have been virtually no art books single-authored by black female art historians in South Africa,” she says. “I am planning to fill this gap as I believe it is important for students to be exposed to black women who are producers of knowledge in my field.”’

More is being done about representation in general too. This is what Liza Essers, who owns and runs Goodman Gallery, had to say during the talk she co-hosted with Kholisa highlighting how and why things are and should be changing:

“Africa is the next market that is growing, where there’s a massive interest in contemporary art and buying art. African contemporary art is finally being recognised. For example the Tate recognised there was a huge gap in their collection and that art history has primarily been written from a Western perspective and collections need to be readdressed to include other perspectives.

They started an African acquisitions committee about five years ago to make a conscious dedicated effort to fill in the gaps. That’s happening more and more with all the big museums – the Guggenheim, MOMA – it’s a global trend and lots of auction houses are starting to have dedicated African sales.

This was never the case up until three years ago. Aspire Art auction house opened here last year, this year Sotheby’s London dedicated an entire sale to Africa.” 

As far as I can remember when it comes at art education, we only were exposed to Mmakgabo Helen Sebidi (her name doesn’t even appear on this Wikipedia list of South African women artists) and then other white women artists like Jane Alexander, Irma Stern, Maud Sumner, Maggie Laubser and Penny Siopis.

Of course we know that there are various socio-economic and political reasons for this skew.

Since then the number has risen slightly but it’s encouraging to see certain artists become better known around galleries in this country and abroad.

Besides the artists listed at the beginning of this piece, here is a list of just five to add to or start your collection. Let’s continue to raise their profiles.

Donna Kukama

Cassi A. Namoda

Lebohang Motaung

Nabeeha Mohamed

Talia Ramkilawan