Renowned artist Athi-Patra Ruga illuminates on using his art to restore dignity and pay homage to forgotten and misrepresented communities.
I was born eZiphunzini, also known as Duncan Village, in East London. I am the 10th of 13 children. Home was a safe and happy space, and always felt as though the world made its wrath known to me the moment I stepped out. The moment I could draw, my parents threw their weight behind my passion. They were the type who, if I showed a slight interest in anything they’d immediately buy whatever I needed to sustain that hobby.
My dad was a journalist and my mom a midwife. I went to Belgravia Art Centre and School in East London. From there I got a scholarship at age 17 to study fashion at the Gordon Flack Davidson Academy of Design in Johannesburg, which shut its doors in 2005. In my second and third years of study, I was nominated for an Elle Magazine New Talent Award and started showing in art spaces in 2005. I currently live between Cape Town and Hogsback, in the Eastern Cape, with my partner Malibongwe Tyilo and two prize-winning cats [chuckles].
The words ‘dignity’, ‘sustainability’, ‘art’ and ‘consoling’ best describe my life at the moment. These are some of the many things that artists hold dear to their hearts. I believe that my purpose revolves around celebrating language, dignity and the sustainability of those various things.
Trying out new things inspired my relocation to Hogsback, from Cape Town [in early2020]. I’d been living in big cities since I was 17, and felt I needed to distance myself from them. My art, the lockdown and life with my partner came together at such an opportune time, plus the fearlessness that comes with being in my home province, have all made me very productive. Being in Hogsback has been a huge inspiration point, one that’s reminded me why I started on this art journey in the first place. My 2019 collaboration with Dior came about while I was in London, showcasing at Somerset House.
READ MORE | Fhatuwani Mukheli on when art became his life - 'It’s paying off, literally'
Shortly afterwards I received a call from Dior about the fourth edition of the Dior Lady Art project that Maria Grazia Chiuri had been working on. I sent them my work and posed a challenge to the Dior Art Studio to create a design inspired by our sculptures and another inspired by one of their iconic dresses, the Junon Dress. It was a long process of the Dior couture ateliers actioning our brief but also a very collaborative one. They then came to South Africa to see my studio and how we work. I also went to Paris a couple of times to present and see the collaboration’s progress.
The Dior collaboration didn’t affect my ego at all. I was only concerned with ensuring that the work would be the best of its kind. Each time I go into studio to create my sculptures or performances, I validate myself through a knowledge system and the highest discipline of technique — and that’s what I teach my mentees as well. I approached the collaboration as work that was bringing forth a face that perhaps hadn’t been shown on their platforms before. My work is mainly about exposing the forgotten or misrepresented. I view putting the stories and aesthetics of my community on such platforms as being of service. I’m spreading a new definition of what humanity is, and what being Xhosa and South African means.
The Lunar Songbook was a screenplay that I had designed to be a transmedia body. It exists in many disciplines and platforms. The screenplay was chosen by The Realness, a programme started by film company Urucu. People go to the Nirox Sculpture Park for a story camp; the screenplay is developed towards a film by my studio. My work is also being developed into a book. There’s the stain glass element which I named Interior/Exterior — it is also a tribute to all the characters that will be showcased in The Lunar Songbook. And then there’s tapestry, another medium that I use to communicate stories as they happen, especially Nomalizo Khwezi’s portrait.
READ MORE | Art prize winner Lindokuhle Sobekwa finds his voice through photography – ‘We all see the world uniquely’
With Interior/Exterior, I wanted to use the phenomenon of light to cast attention to the characters that I have made in glass to speak to who’s outside versus inside, or even the act of bringing the outsider in. The outsiders in this case would be the queers, Blacks and the femmes — all of whom form part of my community. This part of the show is also an exploration of masculinities. The other half, Dramatis Personae, is a focus on femininities in the form of Nomalizo Khwezi who is the protagonist of The Lunar Songbook cycle that I started working on in 2018. My show, Inyanga zoNyaka opened at the Norval Foundation in Cape Town for the next 10 months.
I have, for the longest, time been postponing getting a driver’s license and my happiness. I’ve been working on discovering myself through art and never considered these two as important. I can drive by the way, I just don’t have a license. Am I even allowed to admit this out loud [chuckles]? Also, my love language is being of service to others — both at communal and familial levels. In the process, I usually forget about myself and have been at this for the past 15 years. I woke up one day and realised that my audience needed me happier. I feel as though I’m going back to being the fulfilled child that my parents raised.
Which artist’s work do you someday wish to own? I collect a lot of art, but at the moment I covet multi-disciplinary artist Dada Khanyisa’s creations.
What lessons are you walking out of lockdown with? I’m ready to take care of myself and preserve my energy. Ultimately, Lesoko Seabe and myself coming together in friendship to start Victory of the Word, a fundraising campaign aimed at helping the historic Lovedale Press College, was one of my lockdown highlights. The press opened its doors in 1823 and taking care of it is preserving the intellect and spirit. that has been documented in books, plays and artworks. The second phase of Victory of the Word will be Bodyland, an artists’ incubator programme launching in October 2020.
What scent always reminds you of home? At the moment it is Spring — the smell of peach and cherry blossoms reminds me of my new hometown, Hogsback.
