Chuma Maweni Video Workshop 2021
Fri Aug 20, 09:00 - Sun Oct 31, 22:00
CSA Western Cape Online workshops
ABOUT
A master of hand-thrown ceramics, Chuma Maweni's distinctive approach combines contemporary hand-coiled shapes marked with precisely patterned incision. From his studio in Woodstock, Cape Town, he makes exquisitely crafted ceramic vessels and furniture, the latter finding their largest form to date in his sought-after Imbizo series of tables, side-tables and stool.
In this video workshop Chuma demonstrates his process, and invites in his journey of creating these masterpieces. The hour long video workshop covers the build, carving, attachments, finishing and firing. A calm, friendly talk through the steps, this workshop is informative and satisfying to watch.
The video workshop will remain available on demand until 24th September once you purchase your ticket.
Due to COVID-19 measures and documenting equipment available, the workshop was filmed by the artist himself. The only way to fit the tall pots into frame was to film in portrait.
ARTIST BIO
Chuma Maweni
A master of hand-thrown ceramics, Chuma Maweni’s distinctive approach combines contemporary hand-coiled shapes marked with precisely patterned incisions. From his studio in Woodstock, Cape Town, he makes exquisitely crafted ceramic vessels and furniture, the latter finding their largest form to date in his sought-after Imbizo series of tables, side-tables and stool.
Chuma was born in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape, in 1976. He traces his interest in ceramics to his earliest memories making clay figures of bulls and cows on the muddy riverbanks. His family fled the anti-Apartheid riots to New Payne Location, just outside Mthatha in the rural Transkei, so he and his seven siblings could focus on their schooling. Chuma graduated with a B-Tech degree in ceramics from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in 2002 and spent a few years teaching ceramics to rural women in a poverty alleviation programme run by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
He moved to Cape Town in 2006 to work at Art in the Forest, a ceramics studio, gallery and outreach centre run by potter Anthony Shapiro. There he mentored and taught other ceramicists while honing his style, garnering local attention for his series of teardrop-shaped vessels and conical pots. Pit-fired with the same techniques used by Nguni tribes before him, their dark, porous surfaces, striking silhouettes and smoky scent established him as a distinctly contemporary ceramicist dedicated to his craft.
Chuma opened his own studio in 2016 and was selected for A New Wave, Southern Guild’s exhibition that showcased emerging designers, that same year. He has had work in the Christie’s Design Auction, at The Salon Art + Design in New York City and Design Miami.
His Imbizo (“gathering” in isiXhosa) table and stool set, made for the 2018 gallery show Extra Ordinary, set in motion a new, more monumental direction for him and saw him apply his intricate carving skills into wood for the first time. It has since spawned an extensive range of stools, which earned Chuma the Object That Moves Award at the 2018 Design Foundation Awards, as well as a 12-seater dining room table.
ARTIST AWARDS
Awards:
- 1999. Merit Award: 1st Year Academic Excellence Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
- 2000. Merit Award: 2nd Year Academic Excellence. Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
- 2000. Sculpture Award. Eastern Cape Potters Association Regional Exhibition. King George VI Art Gallery. Port Elizabeth.
- 2007: Finalist Abazobi Project. Roben Island Museum.
- 2017: Merit Award. CSA Western Cape Regional Exhibition
- 2018: Merit Award. CSA Corobrik National Ceramics Biennale
- 2019: Design Foundation “Object that Moves Award”. Southern Guild. Cape Town
Recent Exhibitions:
- ?2014: The New York Now Expo, New York
- 2015: Ceramic SA Regional Exhibition, Cape Town
- 2016: New Wave Exhibition, Southern Guild Gallery, Cape Town
- 2016: CSA Corobrik National Ceramics Biennale
- 2017: CSA Western Cape Regional Exhibition
- 2018: Extra Ordinary Exhibition, Southern Guild Gallery, Cape Town
- 2018: CSA Corobrik National Ceramics Biennale
