Yebo Art Gallery, in partnership with the European Union held an auction to raise money for local organizations fighting against Gender-Based Violence in Eswatini. Ten local visual artist contributed artwork sharing their perspectives on the fight against GBV and these works were auctioned at the event. The auction was hosted by Siphelele ‘Sips’ Magagula and Honest Mhlanga. The event was a success, hosting various governmental, corporate and international stakeholders such as Dessislava Choumelova, the Head of Delegation of the European Union and the Deputy Prime Minister of Eswatini, Thulisile Dladla.
The ten artists who took part in the auction were also able to share their thoughts and perspectives on the issue of Gender-Based Violence in Eswatini through a short documentary that was screened at the start of the event. The documentary will be available to view via Youtube in the coming days. Wema, Xolelwa Malinga, Honest Mhlanga, Sive Manana, Aleta Armstrong, Sinenkosi Msomi, Khulekani Msweli, Thabo Lukhele, Phindile Mamba and Bulelwa Kunene each shared perspectives on how their artwork expresses solidarity with the fight against GBV and what their hopes and dreams are for a world that is free of such social ills.
Overall, this auction event was able to raise over E30 000 to be shared with various local organizations tackling the issue of GBV in the country.
The artists’ artworks and concepts can be seen below:
Uprooting Patriarchy
By Phindile Mamba
Nowadays women live in great fear invoked by the cruel and merciless abuse and murder of women and children. What pains me the most is the fact that murder and abuse towards women is mostly inflicted to them by their partners who are supposed to be the people protecting them, yet they are the ones torturing them. Because of this situation I’ve heard a lot of talk from young women declaring that they rather remain single than being in a relationship with a person who might kill or abuse them someday.
The issue of GBV had instilled so much fear and doubt in them that they no longer believe in love and marriage. There has never been more suitable time than now, for us to stand against GBV.We are losing a lot of women in the hands of their partners. Now is the right time for everyone to open their eyes and come with a solution to this pandemic.
In my painting it depicts a disabled married woman tied to a tree and the tree represents a man/patriarchy. The tree is being uprooted by doves which means that we must work together to eradicate the problem of GBV from its roots. The chain symbolizes that once a woman is in a relationship, she is bound to the man and the man has authority over her and can do anything he wants.
GBV has plagued our county and the whole wide world but together we can come up with a solution and conquer it!
Empower
By Thabo Lukhele
This painting promotes women’s empowerment by equipping them with skills and jobs which will make them to be financially free. Women usually find themselves trapped in an abusive relationship because they are still holding the belief that a man must provide. This might not be the main problem if it happens out of pure love without a man thinking he is investing in her. Many men always think that when they provide, they are in full control of women. This has been influenced by our culture that man should provide, and it has been stuck in most women’s minds for a long time. it is even said that (Indvodza yinhle ngetinkhomo tayo) which means a man’s beauty comes with the amount of riches he accumulated. We have seen our parents sometime back in the earlier days taking their girl child to a wealthy man just because he will pay dowry. This always put the girl child in trouble for the fact that no matter what happens to her she won’t return home because her dowry was paid in full.
It might be our Swazi culture but for me it is human trafficking.
This portrait of a woman having a hammer and spanner in her hands with a feeling of civil construction in progress in the background shows that woman themselves should consider doing job which are believed to be done by man if an opportunity avails. The construction in progress depicts a shaping and creating a better future by empowering women and young girls.
A Seat at the Table
By Honest Mhlanga
The piece is a follow up to an artwork I did in 2020 titled The Church, Culture and Norms. In the artwork, a priest and man in traditional regalia sit at a table to play chess. A symbol of decisions made in life and society for the running of the world. Behind them is a naked, screaming woman with a noose around her neck, her brain is the traditionally clad man’s footstool. Through this work, my intention was to open our eyes as to how the church and culture have been since time immemorial played a huge role, sometimes knowingly, in the sidelining and support of GBV.
This work now speaks to finding solutions and bringing a balance. I then remove the priest and the traditional man from their seats, and they are replaced by the once screaming woman and a child and they now play chess. In this way, the former players become observers, a way to understand the once victims. I believe we as men have been ignorant when it comes to women and children’s issues, hence the need to step back, observe, learn, and allow the women and children a voice before returning to the table to play a fair game of chess.
Kindling the Fire of Love
By Khulekani Msweli
Relationships have to be well balanced and embedded in true love, care and affection for one another. It is also to encourage couples to have Kahlil Gibran’s words as their daily silent prayer for themselves and their loved one. “To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving; To rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ecstasy; To return home at eventide with gratitude; And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.” Kahlil Gibran
Do you see us?
By Bulelwa Kunene
How do we envision a future where women and girls are given space to dream, create, be, love and live without the constant threat of violence?
How do we create a society that sees women and girls as people and not objects?
Do you see us?
Everyday, women and girls are told they are not seen. Be it through the outward displays of violence against us or through subtle and covert displays of repression, we are told we are invisible. But everyday and all around us, women and girls continue to dream, to create, to be, to love and to live. This work seeks to center women and girls as people with stories and histories but more importantly, as people with agency and will. Violence against women and girls is a silencing mechanism exercised not just by individuals but by the system. But even in the face of violence and oppression larger than ourselves, we continue to fight and be in solidarity with each other.
We will not be owned.
We will not be silenced.
You will see us.
For Me, For Her
By Xolelwa Malinga
Regardless of it being the year 2023, Eswatini is culturally a patriarchal society. Being so, it’s created a fertile ground for discrimination against women, undermining and devaluing women, with an emphasis on violence against women. The inspiration of my work is rooted from the tragedy of the murders of four Swazi women (Nonhlanhla Thwala, Lungile Shongwe, Fikile Shongwe, Khulile Shongwe) and the attempted murder of a fifth (Thuli Mkhwanazi) all instigated by Charles Mcina.
Similar stories to this tragedy appear in our local papers too often. A classic tale of a man, likely with serious anger issues and zero emotional control who goes and harms these women on impulse. That man fails to find a logical solution for the dispute that caused that anger to arise in the first place, and in doing so, never considers the consequences of his actions in harming the female he resents.
The figures in my work are a representation of mastering emotional intelligence. Learning to control your emotions is a skill that can be developed overtime, requiring practice and patience. By building these skills, a man can grow better communication, improved decision making and over-all wellbeing. In practicing emotional control and conflict resolution, a man may grow a relationship where even the thought of responding with violence is forbidden – a more harmonic relationship for himself and for his significant other.
No one should ignore GBV
By Sive Manana
Patriarchy has created a Swazi society where a lot of people believe that it acceptable for a man to be violent as a means of “corrective” action towards a woman. Society at family, community level and in public ignore GBV occurrences.
Sometimes the argument is that “it’s none of our business”.
It’s high time our society plays its important role in this crucial fight.
Still I Rise
By Wema
“I often dream of a world where we collectively burn down oppressive systems and structures and begin to rebuild anew. What would that process look like?
Rage and anger are catalysts for revolution, yet we live in a society where women and assumed femmes are deemed respectable only when they suppress or stifle it. The truth is that if the collective rage and anger of women and assumed femmes were harnessed, channelled, had the space to exist, flourish, and be healthily expressed, many of the fears and oppressions that groups on the margins of society experience daily would decrease, and eventually, cease to exist, if and only society truly listened.
The piece I have created titled “Still I Rise,” is a collage inspired by Maya Angelou’s poem of the same title. “Still I Rise” is a testament to the experiences that Black women often face working to navigate patriarchal and white supremacist societies. The lines “Out of the huts of history’s shame/I rise/ Up from a past that’s rooted in pain/ I rise,” encapsulate the message I would like viewers to receive when viewing this piece.
In this photographic collage one can see newspaper clippings. I use newspaper headlines to emphasize that not a week goes by without a headline on GBV in Eswatini, and that is something we need to change- burn to the ground, if you will. The embers and flames are resemblant of anger, rage, and ideas of death and rebirth- fire symbolizing the idea of burning things down and starting to build anew. The bodily forms centred in this piece are meant to symbolize the idea of a phoenix rising from the ashes, which to me is symbolic of persons who have been affected by GBV or subject to violences at the hands of patriarchy or white supremacy.Yes, we live in a society where women and assumed femmes have and continue to survive and manoeuvre through the violences of patriarchy and white supremacy, but that is not without them having to go through experiences in which they are forced to relinquish their power, their autonomy, or having to be subject to harm/violence. I want my piece to be a reminder to the viewer that it is their job and responsibility to intervene and speak up when they are a witness to, or have knowledge of such violences being orchestrated- the culture of silence maintains and continues to normalize such violence, however, action, in whatever ways one is capable of orchestrating, is what leads to lasting change, and the saving of lives. I want people to take a moment to be real with themselves when they view the eyes in this piece- I want them to be able to honestly answer the question “Have you truly done what you can, as an individual and community member, to stop GBV?”
I want those who have been subject to, have had fatal experiences with, survived, or continuing to survive through the violences of GBV, to know that the struggle(s) they have faced is(are) not overlooked, that their voices, emotions, and expression are valuable in facing injustice and in stopping the continuation of GBV. I want them to know that it is okay to be angry, it is okay to feel rage- your disappointment/anger/sadness/rage is a signifier of deep injustice and is the catalyst for deep transformation on both an individual and communal basis- much like a phoenix rising from the ashes, you shall rise, and society will have no choice but to follow suite.”
Let’s face the facts
By Aleta Armstrong
GBV is very much in the news due to recent horrific killings and statistics of violence in Eswatini. And, as we go through the 16 days of activism, much more will undoubtedly be said. But many reports have been written on how to solve this, and many speeches have been made, yet the violence continues, and so too does our outrage.
My work explores the myth we spin about how peaceful our country is; how easygoing and happy we all are and what a God-fearing nation we are. Yet if you pull back the curtain, look behind closed doors, the facts tell a very different story.
To solve a problem, you first must admit you have a problem. You must say it out loud. Our country is often angry, suicidal, and violent. We each need to take a good look at our own behaviour and see how we can change. What example are we setting for our children? As a woman, do I support other women and girls – do I speak out and help when I see injustice? As a man, can I do more than claim to be a good man – can I actively fight against sexism whenever I see it and help other men I see are struggling? As a pastor do I see women as equal to men and preach against GBV and set up workshops to promote peace and equality? As a government leader will I treat this issue as a national emergency and actively implement action plans?
Most importantly, can we all preemptively address the root of the problems, instead of reacting to their outcomes?
Then maybe, one day, we might indeed become the peaceful, happy nation we so often claim to be.
A Dialogue at the Table
By Sinenkosi Msomi
This artwork was inspired by the rise in reported GBV cases happening in our country these days.
My artwork is a plea to society to fight Gender based violence by having a talk at the table.
The table signifies a neutral space where factors that result in GBV can be identified, this will make it easier to identify solutions to the problem at hand. I believe unity is key in this process and my artwork seeks to show that.
I used crowns placed on both the heads of my subjects to try and show that no gender is superior or inferior to the other, everyone is equal. This artwork promotes gender equality, peace, unity, and love.
It also encourages women not to be afraid to speak out.
I am an artist whose work shines light on mental health and other themes which encourages society to express themselves freely. I believe this artwork will push communities to address the matter at hand without stigma and discrimination.
