Known for his expansive origami-style creations, Sipho Mabona shifts focus to a personal and resonant object in his latest series: the calabash. He transforms these hollowed, dried gourds, native to tropical Africa, into vessel-like containers across the continent. Mabona translates his familial ties to this functional fruit into vibrant patterns made from recycled milk cartons.
Bringing Childhood Memories to Life: Art by Sipho Mabona
“The starting point for my audiovisual series of works is my childhood memories of my late father’s stories about his own childhood in the rural Eastern Cape of South Africa,” Mabona explains. His father often recounted tales of drinking Amasi, a fermented milk, from calabashes, embedding these stories in the artist’s consciousness.
In this poignant series, Mabona meticulously alters the gourd by cutting triangular and rectangular shapes from it, replacing them with colorful snippets of Tetra Pak cartons, sewn together with vibrant threads. At the heart of each piece, a small mirror offers viewers a distorted reflection of their surroundings. Complementing the visual experience, quiet recordings of Mabona’s father, Mongameli Mabona—a scholar and activist—play faintly, featuring his poems and excerpts on Xhosa cultural history.
For those intrigued by the interweaving of cultural history and artistry, discover how French artisan Benoît Pomel’s Tetra Pak engravings explore similar themes of creativity and craftsmanship.
The artworks weave personal and cultural narratives, highlighting the South African tradition of resilience through upcycling. He turns simple objects into profound cultural artifacts. Mabona reflects on how different cultural experiences shape perspectives: “The works represent a juxtaposition of the diverse ways of life experienced by my father and I, and a dialogue between my artistic endeavors and his anthropological work.” Not only do these sculptures echo familial exchanges, but they also symbolize calabashes’ role in Xhosa culture as musical instrument bodies and ritual objects.
For display, simple resources are transformed as Mabona crafts cylindrical plinths from soil, cow dung, glue, and water—an homage to the rondavel huts central to his father’s upbringing during apartheid. These earthy pedestals connect the calabashes to a sense of home, even in distant settings, reflecting a deeper, animistic worldview.
Further explore the transformation of everyday materials into art by reading about the enchanting wearable worlds created from paper by Alla in St. Petersburg.
Explore more of Mabona’s symbolic creations that intertwine cultural narratives on Instagram.
Source: thisiscolossal.com
Frequently asked questions
What materials does Sipho Mabona use in his artworks?
Sipho Mabona uses recycled milk cartons, Tetra Pak snippets, vibrant threads, and small mirrors in his artworks. He also crafts cylindrical plinths from soil, cow dung, glue, and water.
How does Sipho Mabona honor his father in his work?
Mabona honors his father by recalling his childhood memories and stories shared by his father about drinking Amasi from calabashes. Additionally, his father’s voice recordings, featuring poems and excerpts on Xhosa cultural history, are faintly played alongside the artworks.
What cultural significance do calabashes hold in Xhosa culture?
Calabashes in Xhosa culture are used as musical instrument bodies and ritual objects. They symbolize a tradition of resilience and are deeply embedded in cultural practices.