Intraparadox, Interview with Tandabantu Matola, SNS Art Competition 2024 Runner-Up. PAM 4 September.

Tandabantu Matola|Image, courtesy of SASOL New Signatures

Intraparadox, Interview with Tandabantu Matola, SNS Art Competition 2024 Runner-Up. PAM 4 September 2024.

Illustration 1. Ukuncikelela /to hold on or endure(2024). Underglaze, clay and dishcloths. 5-parts, 195 cm x 30 cm

Black South Africann communities, especially in impoverished rural villages, are focred to keep domestic items longer than they wish.
– Tandabantu Matola

Illustration 2. Detail – Ukuncikelela (to hold on or endure). Underglaze, clay and dishcloths. 5-parts, 195 cm x 30 cm

Liner Notes

This interview was one of those interviews that pulls you in due to the compelling story behind the work. A story that unfolds as the interception tries to grapple with factors that influenced the art practice with regards to the production of the artwork. At this juncture, of course, the conception of the work Ukuncikelela (To Hold on / Endure), the work that took the Runner-Up position in this annual art competition.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much time to round off my loosely prepared questions. In doing justice to the interview, I subsequently called the artist, Tandabantu Matola, the following morning to pick up where we have left off. However, an entirely new but complementary interview emerged with the only downside being the poor audio quality. During post-production I did my best to wrestle with polishing the clip in order archive this artist’s life story.

I would like to offer an apology for the poor quality of the call line in my effort to finalise the second part of this important work. It is my hope that despite poor quality of the last half of this talk the listener will come to appreciate Mr. Matola as an artist who have shown resilience against all odds at the advent of entering this prestigious competition. And that he in turn will continue to contribute to the developing story of South African Art.

Until the next interception.

18 October

© Mmutle Arthur Kgokong, 2024

Reference credits

To reference this audio documentation please cite:

Kgokong, M.A. 2024. Intraparadox, Interview with Tandabantu Matola, SNS Art Competition 2024 Overall Winner. Mmutleak.com-Intraparadox.

Illustration

Illustration 1. Ukuncikelela /to hold on or endure (2024). Underglaze, clay and dishcloths. 5-parts, 195 cm x 30 cm
Illustration 2. (Detail) Ukuncikelela /to hold on or endure (2024). Underglaze, clay and dishcloths. 5-parts, 195 cm x 30 cm

*Image of Tandabantu Matola, courtesy of SASOL New Signatures.