A nation without artistic heroes?

Written by Mamelang Memela with Sandile Memela
Thursday, 02 June 2011 10:04

South Africa is bursting with creative talent, but we’re still in need of a living icon to unite us, argues Sandile Memela.

“Our artists are losing the nation-building plot and sinking our national identity in the process. The problem is a crisis of creative leadership and lack of innovation.”

Am I the only guy who is fed up with the crisis of creative leadership and lack of innovation in the artistic sector? Where the hell is our outrage at the lack of significant national talent that begins to help us redefine the soul of this nation? We should be throwing stones at the glass empires of those who dare call themselves artists.

Sixteen years into democracy and freedom, we have been cheated! We have got far too many oldies who are failing to pass on the baton or inspire a new generation of youngsters to take over from what happened in the 1950s and 1960s. We have far too many over-rated celebrities who were born in the aftermath of 1970s upheaval. They think the arts are a get-rich-and-famous-quick scheme.

We have too many teenagers who were born in the 1990s who have turned out to be more Americans mimics than Africans. This is a serious indictment on the cultural struggle for self-determination, definition and identity. But instead of getting mad, everyone is folding their arms while their hands reach for the next complimentary ticket.

The preoccupation is gaining access to free-loading events, especially government-sponsored ones. Well, those who think they know have told me that we are undergoing a transition. Just give us time, they plead. It has been almost two decades since our former cultural icons returned from exile or prison. What more time do we need?

Our artists are losing the nation-building plot and sinking our national identity in the process. The problem is a crisis of creative leadership and lack of innovation. You might think I am too old to know what I am talking about. Well, I have spoken to many insightful individuals on this issue and they think I am crazy. Yet I am not. Who are the leading national cultural icons in the country today?

You see, someone has to speak up on the dearth of visionary leadership in the national arts today.

Of course, I’m aware of South African talents that have, in the past, exploded on the global scene to become formidable forces to be reckoned with. Yes, I can tell you about Phillip “Malombo” Tabane, Mazisi Kunene, Hugh Masekela, Jonas Gwangwa, Miriam Makeba, Abdullah Ibrahim, Letta Mbulu, Caiphus Semenya, Busi Mhlongo, Can Themba, Dumile Feni, Selby Mvusi, Ernest Cole, Eskia Mphahlele, Thami Mnyele, Lewis Nkosi, Keorapetse Kgositsile and others from their generation. There’s an endless list of courageous and talented individuals who not only defied but transcended apartheid-created boundaries to assert their role on the global cultural scene. This list would include artists who were at the cultural forefront in the 1970s and 1980s. People like Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens, Khabi Mngoma, Ray Phiri and Stimela, Harare, Sipho Mabuse, Brenda Fassie, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Sibongile Khumalo, Gibson Kente, Matsemela Manaka, Fikile Magadlela, Chicco Twala, Mbongeni Ngema, Zakes Mda, Peter Tladi, Johnny Mekoa, Sam Mhangwani, Barney Rachabane, Njabulo Ndebele, Barney Simon and Malcolm Purkey.
Again, the list is endless.

But there aren’t new innovators who’ve really made an impact. Although some of the artists on this list are very much still alive and continuing to be creative, they can’t be considered as the innovators or national voices of the new age. If we insist on counting them in, we’re fiddling while the creative fire is dying out. The soul fire is fading, and nobody seems to know who or what’s the best thing to have happened in the last 10 years.

Even if you ask arts writers, journalists and critics Bongani Madondo, Lerato Tshabalala, Zingi Mkefa, Matthew Krause, Gugu Sibiya, Percy Zvomuya, Barry Ronge, Adrienne Sichel, Victor Dlamini or Karaba Kgoleng, they may wave the flag instead of well-thought-out answers.

It’s time for hard questions. That was the promise of Archbishop Tutu and Nelson Mandela.

I’m travelling around the country and looking for fresh, new and explosive talent. But I’m frustrated. I’ve had enough of the same old tired people, if you like. I’ll take this matter to the highest level. There can be no nation without talented national artists. The artists not only define the soul of the nation but play a prophetic role in terms of whom we are and where we’re going. I’m ready and willing to say: there are no new national prophets among us.

The few friends and colleagues who understand me say I should not tread these waters. They warn me that I will be trampling on big egos. They say, “You don’t even get invited to the Metro Awards and have been dropped as a SAMA judge. Your time is up.”

I’d love to shut up, but someone needs to sound a wake-up call. I want to be a straight shooter. So, I’m telling you how I see it. This is a threat to nation-building, social cohesion and national identity. This isn’t a joke. I hope to strike a nerve in those young folk who think they are it, whatever it is.

This country doesn’t have a creative young artist who’s become a national brand or cultural ambassador, in the American sense of a Michael Jackson or Langston Hughes, if you like.

No-one can deny that Gloria Bosman, Brett Bailey, Vuyani Maqoma, Sello Maake, Yael Farber, Dumisani Phakathi, Mcedisi Shabangu, Tutu Puoane, Peter Sabbagha, Paul Grootboom, Andile Yenana, Hlengiwe Lushaba, Concord Nkabinde, Churchill Madikida, Akin Omotoso, Shanon Mowday, Dada Masilo, Mark Fransman, Nontsikelelo Veleko, Ntsieng Mokgoro and Kesivan Naidoo, among others,  are truly great artists.

But we’re still in a mess in that none of them is a national icon or figure. They all have a small niche crowd that recognises and celebrates them. We need a national icon – someone who epitomises the soul of the nation and mirrors its identity. Now, don’t tell me that it will be too much power in the hands of one man or woman.

If you want to discover the soul of America, you can look to Langston Hughes or Michael Jackson, for instance. I agree that we have potential legends like Lebo Mathosa, Zola Maseko, Terry Matera, Kopano Matlwa, Sello Duiker, James Ngcobo, Mpho Molepo, Zim Ngqawana, Lira, Feya Faku, Andile Mgxitama, Simphiwe Dana, Thandiswa Mazwai, Sipho Sithole, Zanele Muholi and Mary Sibanda. But we’re demanding names and faces that are answers to the pressing problem that faces the nation. Some of us are getting sick and tired of the usual suspects. There are far too many predictable and monotonous names that crop up when we discuss living national treasures. I want us to agree on one single name of someone who is a national institution. Mama Afrika was such a name.

And don’t tell me that you and I can’t agree on one name at least. The fault lies in too much diversity without someone that ties us together. In fact, the whole diversity thing is just rigmarole based on a hollow intellectual argument. It’s part of the reason why we’re in this stew. No single part or group is bigger than the whole. We’re one nation in one country now. We share a common Constitution, principles and ideals.

We share one soul, history and heritage. And thus we deserve, at least, one artist who captures and reflects this soul, someone who can epitomise the rise and fall of this nation. It’s time to take a long hard look at ourselves. What have we to offer the world, especially in terms of the mind-blowing and soul-nourishing explosive talent that should come from our national artists?

Our strength lies in national arts that unite!