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Michaelis School of Fine Art

Mambokadzi

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Mambokadzi is built around the stories of my matrilineal histories and centred on the intimate space in which my grandmother, mother and I exist. It also seeks to recognize the collective space of Black womxn through an exploration of the royal ancestral spirit Nehanda who instigated the first Chimurenga (resistance-struggle) of 1896-97. This space is one tainted by colonial and patriarchal trauma, yet concurrently subverts colonial ideas of gender, particularly the feminine. Mambokadzi is intended to embody a decolonial idea of gender and femininity. In this collective space, womxn have consciously and unconsciously cultivated power within the confines of patriarchy, masculinity and coloniality. Through sculpture, I interrogate learned perceptions about gender and reflect on experiences of womxn in my family as a way to discuss womxnhood in Southern Africa and the diaspora broadly

Degree

thesis:*
Grantor
Michaelis School of Fine Art
Year dc:date.issued
2021

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Chiwa, Akudzwe Elsie
Advisors dc:contributor.advisor
  • Makhubu, Nomusa
  • Alexander, Jane

Subjects

dc:subject × 1

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Handle dc:identifier.uri
http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35702
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/35702

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
University of Cape Town
Base URL
open.uct.ac.za/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
related terms
citation

Chiwa, Akudzwe Elsie. Mambokadzi. Michaelis School of Fine Art, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35702