The Production of Local Art for a Global Cultural Market in Contemporary Mozambique
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THE PRODUCTION OF LOCAL ART FOR A GLOBAL CULTURAL MARKET IN CONTEMPORARY MOZAMBIQUE Sebastião Filipe Matsinhe i THE PRODUCTION OF LOCAL ART FOR A GLOBAL CULTURAL MARKET IN CONTEMPORARY MOZAMBIQUE Sebastião Filipe Matsinhe A dissertation submitted to the Anthropology and Sociology Department, University of the Western Cape, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree: Masters in Anthropology. 2012 Supervisor: Dr. Emile Boonzaier ii Declaration I declare that this research paper entitled The Production of Local Art for a Global Cultural Market in Contemporary Mozambique is my own work, that it has not been submitted before for any degree or examination in any other institution of higher education, and that all sources I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by complete references. Sebastião Filipe Matsinhe February 2012 Signed:.................................................. iii Dedication To my dear mother, Luísa Laíta Humbane, to Aunts Enera and Andrieta Quibine Matsinhe, to my uncle Paz Jamisse Humbane and to my brother Arão Filipe Matsinhe for their support, patience and determination in helping me come to University and complete this work. May God keep their soul in eternal peace! To my son, Samson Matsinhe, for all the inspiring ideas and comfort through his knowledge; May God continually blessing and illuminate his future. iv Acknowledgements I would like to humbly thank and express my sincere profound gratitude and appreciation to the following people: My supervisor, Dr. Emile Boonzaier, who through his knowledge and experience; has given me his constructive and educative guidance and valuable support throughout this study. Particular thanks for the support and contribution given to this study by the artist Malangatana Valente Ngwenya, one of my key informants, who subsequently passed away on the 04th January 2011 and I regret his passing on. My colleagues and friends for their support and assistance and insightful suggestions they made to improve the study. My relatives namely: my uncle Oliveira Humbane, my eldest brothers Alipezado and Joaquim Filipe Matsinhe and my nieces Neli and Luiza Isabel Matsinhe, my cousin Wilson Junior and to my unique son Samson for their love and incalculable encouragement support. To the Mozambican sculptors and painters for their acceptance, during my data collection in collaborating on the interviews through their life histories and experiences to this study. I express gratitude to the media in general in Mozambique and abroad for their endeavours in covering my art exhibitions while I was studying in the way they did. Without their efforts I do not think I would have been able to sell sufficient works in order to sustain my studies and complete this study. I wish to extend my thanks and appreciation to all the people and institutions involved in sponsoring my art exhibitions and to those who bought my art works (paintings) from which I gained the financial support that has enabled me to reach this far. v Lastly, but most importantly, my Heavenly Father for granting me the courage and knowledge to complete this research. vi Abstract This thesis examines the production of commercial art in contemporary Mozambique. It explores the power relationship between local artists – painters and sculptors – and their patrons and brokers in the art market. This means, on one hand, that it looks at the artworks that have been produced during the late colonial period (1962 – 1974) and the post-colonial periods (June 1975 - 2010) and relates this to the changing political landscape in Mozambique. On the other hand, the aim is to explore the artists’ life histories, especially how their talent was first recognized, their art training (formal or otherwise), previous work experience, and the reasons for their current success (or lack thereof). This is done in order to see how and to what extent their artistic works have been influenced by external forces or actors. The power relationship existing between the art producers and their customers in the art markets in Mozambique is then related to the issue of globalisation. In this process, the study critically analyses who the actual art patrons of Mozambique art are and the extent to which Mozambican art is influenced by global forces. The focus is on a number of artists and the thesis examines their life histories specific to their art production in order to highlight the themes and trends of their art works. It was found that local art produced in Mozambique is not simply responding to local influences but also to global forces, of which the latter dominates. However, the study further reveals that while the art producers are influenced externally by their buyers, they (the art producers) have their own ways of manipulating their buyers in order to be able to sell their products. In other words, the artists have the power of mediating between local, personal influence and that of the patrons. vii CONTENTS Page Title............................................................................................................................................ ii Declaration................................................................................................................................ iii Dedication ................................................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. v Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... vii Contents .................................................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale/Background ...................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Aims/ Research Problem/ Research Hypothesis ............................................................ 11 1.3 A Brief Introduction to Mozambique………………………………………………...12 1.4 Research Methodology ………………………………………………………………..14 1.5 Ethical Considerations .................................................................................................... 15 1.6 Chapter Outline ................................................................................................................ 16 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 The basic terms used in this study ................................................................................... 20 2.2 Anthropological approaches to the study of Art ............................................................ 21 2.3 Art in global world ............................................................................................................ 22 2.3.1 Art in the colonial period........................................................................................... 23 2.3.2 Art in the post-colonial period ................................................................................... 25 2.4 Academics approach to the study of art ......................................................................... 30 2.5 How anthropologists have addressed the study of art……………………………....34 CHAPTER III: THE CHANGING POLITICAL LANDSCAPE IN MOZAMBIQUE (1962 – 2010) 3.1 Introduction …………………………………………………… ..................................... 43 3.2 A brief history of the Mozambican governments and its involvement in the arts ...... 44 viii 3.2.1 The pre-independence period: culture during the liberation struggle (1962 – 1974) ........................................................................................................ 45 3.2.2 Samora Machel: socialist initiatives (1975 – 1986) .................................................. 47 3.2.3 Joaquim Chissano: Democracy and freedom of expression (1986 – 1992) .............. 56 3.2.4 Joaquim Chissano: all cultures up lifted (1994 – 2004) ............................................ 58 3.2.5 Armando Guebuza’s leadership: neglecting of culture (2004 – 2010) ..................... 60 3.3 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 62 CHAPTER IV: ARTISTS’ LIFE HISTORIES 4.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 64 4.2 Artists’ formal education in their early life .................................................................... 65 4.3 Formal education.......................................................................... .................................... 67 4.4 Influences and support to become an artist ................................................................... 73 4.5 Artist’s current lives……………………………………………………………….. ....... 77 4.6 Conclusion ……………………………………………………. ....................................... 79 CHAPTER V: ART PATRONS AND THEIR NETWORKS 5.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………. .......... 80 5.2 Who are the patrons and brokers of Mozambique art?................................................ 86 5.3 Patrons and their networks ............................................................................................. 88 5.4 How the patrons influence artists …………………………………………… ............... 92 5.5 Why particular artists are successful .............................................................................. 104 5.6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................