Untitled, from the series ‘The Brave Ones’
About this artwork
This photograph depicts two boys from the Shembe Nazareth Baptist community in South Africa, a denomination that blends Christian and Zulu traditions. Its young male adherents – who refer to themselves as the ‘Iscotch’ – adopt special costumes based on the kilt for religious ceremonies, often performed in the open air. The influence is drawn from Scottish regiments present in Natal in the late nineteenth century. Mthethwa’s concerns lie less with religion and more with issues of adolescent identity and rites of passage. His work adds an African dimension to a well-established European tradition of depictions of young people at transitional moments in their lives.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Zwelethu Mthethwa (born 1960) South African
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title:Untitled, from the series ‘The Brave Ones’
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date created:2010
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materials:Chromogenic print
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measurements:(framed: 150.00 x 194.30 cm)
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object type:
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credit line:Purchased with Art Fund support, 2011
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accession number:PGP 778
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gallery:
Zwelethu Mthethwa
Zwelethu Mthethwa
Zwelethu Mthethwa (born 1960) is a South African photographer who was educated at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town. After receiving a Fulbright Scholarship, he completed an MFA in Imaging Art from the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York. His large colour...