By Andrew Mulenga
She participated in her
first exhibition at the age of 11, but it is in 2013 that she captured media
attention as a bashful 17-year-old during the 20th UNWTO general assembly’s main
art exhibition at the Livingstone Museum; she was the youngest in the show.
The same year, she
announced her intention to study art and take it up professionally despite her
being a straight-A school leaver who managed to attain the much-coveted “six
points” that would be able to get her into the study of natural sciences.
Certainly, the
following year in 2014, she enrolled for a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Ceramics
Studies and Art for Advertising at the University of Namibia, the same year,
she was awarded a one-year cultural scholarship to study art at the then
Armstrong State University in Savannah, Georgia, in the United States. Her
studies culminated in a graduate exhibition at the National Art Gallery of
Namibia (NAGN) in Windhoek, Namibia.
Returning to her Livingstone
hometown after graduation, Alina Mateke or Lina as she is fondly called among
close friends and family, she shares her developmental trajectory over the last
four years, in an untitled homecoming solo exhibition, the first in her career.
The ongoing exhibition, which opened at the Livingstone National Gallery on
Friday 14th June and runs until the 15th July, features
work from 2015 to 2019.
While her work offers a
wide range of techniques that she has explored over the years, as influenced by
her education as well as the artists she has met during her travels, perhaps the
most charming pieces in the body of work is the series entitled “I am a woman” which
comprises four pieces: “I am confident”, “I am passionate”, “I am brave” and “I
am free”, they are semi-autobiographical.
 |
| “I am confident”, 2019, charcoal and acrylic on canvas (60cm x 45cm) by Alina Mateke |
According to the artist’s
statement provided by Mateke, these particular works “symbolize her journey
from adolescence into adulthood and her exploration of what it means to be a
woman. Having faced various pressures and the struggles life has to offer, such
as loss, loneliness, fear, inadequateness and instability resulting from her
frequent travels, she has come to learn that despite the struggles young women
face, they must remember their strengths as women; confidence, passion, bravery
and freedom.”
For these works, she
combines monochromatic portraits in charcoal embellished with colourful flowers
in acrylic to create an enchanting contrast. The works also draw inspiration
from her pencil portrait commissions and an orchid and sunflower tryptic that
are on display in the exhibition.
However, while Mateke’s
artworks; particularly the hypnotizing “I am a woman” series may be captivating,
with their rich and elaborately painted flowers and subjects who’s stares look
out almost seductively to the viewer, a vibe imaginably enhanced by their lyrical
titles, one should be reminded here that the works speak to the artist’s
personal experiences; they cease therefore to be a mere bouquet of pretty
portraits.
Furthermore, although
they tell Mateke’s story, they also tell the story of many young women in that
they are not self-portraits, that is to say, it is not her in the portraits. The
portraits are composites, seamlessly fusing images from several models. They
comprise features from numerous young women, a nose from here combined with
eyes from there, lips from this one and cheeks from that one. Except, she does
it in such a genius way that you the viewer cannot tell.
They are nice to look
at as they stare back at us with calm but intense gazes, they might even be
described as obsessive portrayals of beauty, but they have a much more
deep-seated meaning. It can be argued therefore, that these works lend
themselves to deeper theoretical conversations around the art of portraiture. Conversations
that should be encouraged among artists, art lovers, critics, students and
scholars, seeing that portraiture enjoys an exalted reputation on the Zambian
art scene.
 |
| “I am brave”, 2019, charcoal and acrylic on canvas (60cm x 45cm) by Alina Mateke |
Take for instance the National
Arts Council’s (NAC) prize-giving event that was hosted at the Bonanza Golf and
Housing Estate in Lusaka on Sunday 16th June, an occasion that
attracted an impressive number of senior government officials, the corporate
community, golfers, artists and the media. Near the entrance of the clubhouse
was a noteworthy display of paintings, sculptures and mixed media artworks by various
artists set up by the Visual Arts Council (VAC).
The featured artworks
were inspired by several themes ranging from traditional ceremonies to daily
life; it included both abstract and figurative works. Among the figurative pieces,
were elaborate portraits of President Edgar Chagwa Lungu, two of these later found
their way into the evening’s main event and were the highlight of an animated art
auction conducted by the Minister of Sport, Youth and Child Development, Moses
Mawere—whom it must be added, did a tremendous job that would leave any
professional art auctioneer from Sotheby’s or Christie’s green with envy.
One was a drawing by
upcoming artist Laban Mwaba that sold for K10, 000 (ten thousand kwacha) and
the other was a painting by the well-known portrait artist Caleb Chisha of Iris
Kaingu and “Date My Family” fame which sold for K25, 000 (twenty-five thousand
kwacha). NAC and VAC must be commended for this pop-up gallery and auction effort,
hot on the heels of the inaugural Arts Business Forum it is surely the way to
go and truly articulates NAC’s “2019: Year of The Arts” and “Celebrating and
investing in the arts” slogans.
So before we get back
to Mateke, why are we making mention of this event again? It is to stimulate debate
that the Zambian art consumer has an amplified liking for portraiture. If not, why
were portraits separated from other artworks? Within the Zambian context
regardless of one’s rank in the art consuming society, be it the casual, curious
or well-versed art enthusiast, many do not see art beyond the portrait.
Which is not a bad
thing, but this does border on banal insularity as artists are often belittled
and measured by how well they can replicate a photograph. The portrait is
everything, which is why the nonprofessional’s first question to an artist
remains, “so you are an artist, can you draw me?” On that score, you can ask
any artist, to be honest; most artists find the question annoying if not offensive
because they see themselves more than someone who just possesses the ability of
drawing people’s faces.
 |
| “I am passionate”, 2019 charcoal and acrylic, on canvas by Alina Mateke |
It is no surprise
therefore, that figurative portraits of a head of state would be separated from
other works of art and auctioned off. However, we should ask what is it that
the Zambian art consumer sees in these portraits? We should also ask the
artist, what is it that inspires them to sit down and pour over their canvases
and pieces of papers for long lonely hours to depict—in many cases—the faces of
famous people they will never even meet. Whom does the portrait empower? The
person portrayed? the viewer? Or indeed the artist by lining a coin or two in
her or his pocket?
Mulling over all these
questions, we should try to move away from the analysis of likeness in
portraiture but also consider the cultural and socio-political implications of portrait
making. What are the power relations between the artist who has painted a
portrait, the viewer and the person within it? This is whether the portrait was
a commission or not. In addition, we should always interrogate the visual
agency of art and its ability to change the mentality of the populace.
Further readings of portraits
such as those in Mateke’s “I am a woman” series may subliminally speak to
several women’s empowerment movements that fall under the “feminism” umbrella, seeing
they are clearly sonnets that inspire confidence, passion, bravery and freedom
in young women. What is the deeper reading of portraits by other artists? Should
we not be reading them more than just portraits?
Nevertheless, this
year, Mateke has worked on over 20 commissioned portraits alongside an
interactive project called Project Nam through which she hopes to create a
dialogue between the Namibian Community and the Country’s Social Influencers. Some
of these and other private works can be viewed on her social media platforms.
But fortunately, alongside her “I am a woman” series, visitors to the
Livingstone National Gallery will have the opportunity to see what she calls
her “pencil sketches”, in essence these hyper-realistic portraits can be
described as photographs made using a pencil. Some of these portraits
constitute the 24 works that are on display. According to Mateke, she is
displaying 24 works because that will be her age at the close of the year 2019.
 |
| “I am free”, 2019, charcoal and acrylic, on canvas by Alina Mateke |
Again Mateke is not all
about charcoal and pencil, during her studies, she discovered her love for
Ceramics and nurtured it alongside drawing. She has since undertaken four
internships, where she has worked under the mentorship of some internationally
acclaimed ceramists such as Sarie Maritz and Jacqui Van Vuuren as well as award
winning graphic designer Tanya Stroh and most recently ceramic jewellery
designer Elke Le Roux in Cape Town.
In addition, she is not
all about globetrotting. During the course of her studies abroad, she was involved
in the local art scene, notably, in 2015, she participated in the “Insaka
International Artists Workshop” alongside other Zambian and international
artists in Livingstone.
Anyhow, Mateke’s
remains an inspirational story of how childhood dreams can be achieved with the
full support of parents, that is, parents who do not force careers on their
children. From the beginning of her
journey, she has had the full support of her parents, Vimbi Mateke, an
educationalist and Clare Mateke a Biologist and artist.
 |
| Artist, Alina Mateke - the work is an exploration of what it means to be a woman |
No comments:
Post a Comment