Xhanti Mpakama
Art in Cape Town

He soon showed a natural artistic talent being keen on sculpturing from an early age. Much of his inspiration comes from the environment of his youth. With names like Smoking Grandmother, Mother and Child, African Man and Shepherd Boy, Xhanti’s memories and imaginative ideas are brought to life in sculptures that are both beautiful and sensitive to his heritage. Xhanti designs his work in clay or wax, which is then cast in bronze. His art is available from selected outlets, and he exhibits regularly. He has had the honour of being commissioned to produce a number of sculpturesf or the National Heritage Trust. During his reign he consolidated and unified several Xhosa groups and expanded the territory he had inherited from his father. Xhanti has also had the opportunity to collaborate with another bronxze scultor, Barry Jackson. Together they were commissioned by the National Heritage Trust to create a three times life size bust of Nelson Mandela for the South African Government. It can be viewed outside the Houses of Parliament in Cape Town. Inspired by childhood memories of growing up in rural South Africa, Xhanti sculpts figures depicting life in the rolling hills of the Transkei. Here, men often leave their families to work in the mines, and women are left to raise children and tend farmlands. He captures their emotions, their bodies, their actions. Dance with me, let’s move together, here’s the rhythm. Such good news: my husband’s on his way home, after working in the city for so long. Do you also know that magical feeling of hoping for something special, of wanting it so much, then finally, finally getting it? But life has changed and we are now striving for economic success in many different spheres of business. We are working with the same energy and commitment as the warriors of the past.