Mhudi 2019
Mhudi 2019 Hand-woven archival ink-jet prints 292 x 101.5 x 8.5 cm
Mhudi (detail) 2019
Mhudi: An Epic of South African Native Life a Hundred Years Ago by Sol Plaatje is the first novel by a black South African. It was completed in 1920, but only published in 1930. In it Plaatje describes a period in South African history that offers a different perspective from the prevailing Euro-centric versions of the time.
Mhudi explores the period of the Mfecane when both the Zulu and Boer military and territorial aspirations led to catastrophic warfare and migration. It was a time when the racial fault lines of southern African politics of the last 100 year were drawn.
Mhudi follows the wonderings a woman and her husband whose Barolong (or Tswana) city of Kunana is sacked by Mzilikazi’s Matabele/Ndebele army who had broken away from Shaka’s Zulu empire. The novel details the military alliance of the Boers and Barolong who joined forces to defeat Mzilikazi and force the Matabele into modern day Zimbabwe. The novel explores notions of identity, belonging, statelessness and both racial tension and possible harmony. – M. Blackman
