It’s a Thursday night in Umhlanga, I have a dinner at 18:30 and I’m early so I decided to visit this tiny gallery just behind the Umhlanga Rocks sign on the areas busiest street. I had seen it whilst passing by a few times.
To my surprise, I got there and meet Nhlanhla Chonco, it was as if he was waiting for me. He walked me through some of his artwork and kindly asked that I be present and not take pictures of the work but just listen.
I found him to randomly positioned in the middle of the coastal region speaking such big concepts. He took the time to educate me about a man called Dmitry Tsafendas who stabbed and killed the Apartheid Master Hendrick Verwoerd .. said his painting was of the only picture of him ever taken .. I realised in that very moment that actually I don’t know much about the details of the entire Apartheid story. I just know a few highlights taught to me here and there and the few times I’ve read about it in book .. As in this story is new to me .. And why would the art attracting itself to me be so politically under toned lately. I wonder .. However with Apartheid, you can see the impact in your personal life even 30 years post democracy. This is a story for another day.
Any way he then showed me Meditation paintings , one of a lady .. and it’s like you can see her on the inside of while she meditates. The paper was new to me, he said it was Italian , it gives the painting a subtle 3D feel. He showed me a his signature symbolism, is a inward curl with spikes , it looks like small spiral suns with long tail, and it’s a pattern you’d find on clothing worn by older women on modern traditional African prints. He explained to me that his grandma named all her kids starting with C’s and they were all Chonco’s and that the symbol meant C in another alaphabet.
He shared with me another picture of a Kenyan man doing Yoga in the upper coast of East Africa, faced down with all his energies aligned. I instantly loved it. I bought it. He explained that he had seen them practice it. I love a piece that makes me feel like I will never see it ever again. It’s not on sale yet. We spoke about pieces he was not selling, and items that just stay with him in the tiny studio. His art collection.
We spoke about how he identifies as Nguni, living in the land is the Zulus, that’s when the conversation peaked because I truly identify as Nguni too. I mentioned the Swati’s also lived in the land of the Dlamini’s , which is the land of the Maseko’s if you dig deep enough. I’m still looking for a conversation on the surnames that make up the Nguni Tribe. That’s future work.
Needless to say I had never heard of this surname before, we compared artists of the Johannesburg to those in Durban. We spoke about the longing for home you find in creative arts/works and how often even if given the opportunity, some artists wouldn’t come home.
I just couldn’t believe my luck. I think that’s was my favorite open studio, to date.
