SNS25EditAmbient Mix
[The] present interception is a delayed interception in that for the past few years I wanted to interview Wisani Manyisi. To my memory, of all the artists who I have been preoccupied with archiving the lives thereof over the years, besides Sello Letswalo, Manyisi has consistently entered the SASOL New Signatures Visual Arts Competition a few times over the past years, four years as he corrects me, during our talk in the present podcast. 1
Clearly his resilience has finally paid off. I shall have more reasons to reflect on those artworks at a later stage. Comparatively speaking, it will emerge that the present pod in the line-up of the interviews that I have conducted for this year’s edition of the art competition is longer. For reasons that would become clearer with listening the longer treatment was necessary.
– mmutleak.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
[This] work seeks to remember the pain caused by war in Mozambique and how my family was forced to leave their homes. This painting is a quiet place to remember those hard times and how we were separated. I put an empty piano and armchair in this big, quiet field to show the deep sadness of missing the people we love. The silence in the painting is aimed to create sense of tranquility that one could stop, listen, reflect and feel close to those that we have lost. Next to the piano is the small blue lantern is a light of hope, helping our memories find their way back home.
19 October
© Mmutle Arthur Kgokong, 2026
To reference this audio documentation please cite:
Kgokong, M.A. 2026. Intraparadox, Interview with Wisani Manyisi. The Mood of Memory. 09 Sep 2026. SNS25EditAmbient Mix. Mmutleak.com-Intraparadox.
Reference credits
List of figures
- Wisani Manyisi. Dance of Memory (2026). Mixed media on Paper. 159 x 138 cm
Afterwords
* Original Image of Wisani Manyisi and artwork have been used with the courtesy of SASOL New Signatures Visual Arts Competition.
+Artist’s statement extract supplied by SASOL New Signatures Visual Arts Competition.
<> I remain grateful to Wisani Manyisi for agreeing to sit with me for this interview. Le ka moso.
[] As always, I am appreciative of SASOL Art Collection curator Cate Terblanche and Marina Carlow of Marina Smithers PR for coordinating the interviews with the artists for this year’s edition of SASOL New Signatures Visual Arts Competition.
- In 2023 Manyisi entered the art competition with a mixed media piece titled The Queen Still Standing, in 2024 with Respite done in charcoal, soft pastels and watercolour and in 2025 the piano appeared in the mixed media work titled Melodi in Solitude ↩︎
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