Dumile Feni

born 1942, Worcester, SA died 1991, New York, USA

Zwelidumile Geelboi Mgxaji Mslaba “Dumile” Feni was an artist best known for his drawings and sculpture. He is sometimes called the “Goya of the townships”. He had a passion for drawing and carving from a young age. He moved to Johannesburg in the early 1950s where he worked as an apprentice in a pottery and plastics foundry, but it was a stay in a tuberculosis clinic in 1963 that jumpstarted his career as an artist. There, he befriended the artist Ephraim Ngatane, who encouraged him to pursue art professionally after seeing his talents. After he was discharged from the clinic, he studied at the Jubilee art centre, which was headed at the time by Cecil Skotnes. He also received some training from the artist Bill Ainslie.

The 1960s were a turbulent time in South Africa’s history. Following the Sharpeville massacre of 1960, state oppression by the apartheid government and police brutality intensified against black and brown South Africans. The need for cheap, migratory labour, coupled with the Group Areas Act, saw the rapid growth of townships on the outskirts of cities, where millions of people were forced to live in cramped conditions. Feni drew the hardships, and resistance of the people living in townships.

After a solo show at Gallery 101 in Johannesburg in 1966, Feni’s fame skyrocketed. In 1967, he represented South Africa at the Sāo Paulo Biennale in Brazil, a big art fair where countries from all around the world was given a space to show their work. But he was criticized by his artist friends for agreeing to work with the apartheid government, who sponsored the space at the Biennale. Feni was flourishing, but he was still dealing with personal struggles. The apartheid government denied him a pass document, which controlled the movement of black people throughout the country. According to them, his job as an artist wasn’t enough to qualify him for a pass!

After that, he decided to go into exile - first to London, where he befriended Justice Albie Sachs, and once again held successful exhibitions. In 1979, he moved to the United States - first to Los Angeles, then to New York, where he spent the remainder of his life. Even though his passion for art never stopped - the walls of his flat were covered in drawings! - and still exhibited, his main source of income was from designing and illustrating album covers, posters and calendars. Sadly, he never returned to South Africa, as he died in 1991. 

One day, Feni was with a friend, and they saw a string of handcuffed men walking past. The friend asked Feni why he didn’t draw things like that in his art. At the same time, a truck carrying people en route to a funeral drove past. Those of the men who wore hats, respectfully removed their hats as the truck drove past. In reply, Feni said that is what he wanted to show in his art - the small moments of humanity in a system made to dehumanise you.