Esther Mahlangu: Murals, Motion, and Magic

Online Exhibition

Learn about South African artist Esther Mahlangu, her installation at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and her influence on American artist Sonya Clark.

Featured Image: Esther Mahlangu: Murals, Motion, and Magic

Overview

“I started painting on canvas and board as I realized not everybody will be able to see the Ndebele painting in Mpumalanga where I live, and I felt I need to take it to them to see. This is how my work started to be exhibited in museums and galleries around the world.”

—Esther Mahlangu

Esther Nostokana Nagiyana Nikwambi Mahlangu (b. 1935, Mpumalanga, South Africa) is an internationally celebrated muralist whose colorful work covers canvases, walls, and even cars. Known for bright, abstract compositions, she roots her large-scale painting in Ndebele artistic practices.

NMWA was the first American institution to commission a mural by Mahlangu, which was a centerpiece for its exhibition Esther Mahlangu, South African Muralist: The BMW Art Car and Related Works, on view from September 15 to November 13, 1994.

A woman with a dark skin tone wearing a colorful traditional South African garb is standing in front of a colorful wall.
Esther Mahlangu in front of NMWA's façade as part of Esther Mahlangu, South African Muralist: The BMW Art Car and Related Works; 1994

Mural Painting in Ndebele Culture

In South Ndebele culture, women paint the exterior walls of houses with bold lines and geometric shapes to show care, loyalty, and respect for their homes. This practice is shared matrilineally. Mahlangu learned the art of mural painting from her mother and grandmother at age 10.

Mahlangu’s paintings feature vibrant hues of pink, blue, green, and purple, bordered by thick black-and-white lines, which echo design elements found in beaded Ndebele jewelry and clothing.

A woman with a dark skin tone in colorful, traditional South African garments is painting a mural on a wall.
Esther Mahlangu paints NMWA's façade as part of Esther Mahlangu, South African Muralist: The BMW Art Car and Related Works; 1994

Beadwork

Like mural painting, beadwork holds special significance in Ndebele culture, particularly in women’s jewelry, body ornaments, and clothing. Beaded pieces are used in traditional ceremonies and rites of passage. Mahlangu wears thick beaded bracelets, anklets, and neck adornments. 

A headshot of a woman with dark skin color wearing colorful beaded jewelry.
Esther Mahlangu works on her mural of NMWA’s façade as part of Esther Mahlangu, South African Muralist: The BMW Art Car and Related Works; 1994

Interview with Esther Mahlangu

Esther Mahlangu at NMWA

NMWA Mural

In the summer of 1994, Mahlangu visited Washington, DC, to create a mural in celebration of NMWA’s newly acquired addition, the Elisabeth A. Kasser Wing (which opened to the public in 1997).

Working outside with her son and a team of assistants from South Africa and the US, she transformed a three-story wall, now the exterior of the Museum Shop and annex, with vividly colored, geometric Ndebele patterns.

“The original patterns that were painted on the houses in the past were part of a ritual of Ndebele people to announce events like a birth, death, wedding, or when a boy goes off to the initiation school.”

—Esther Mahlangu

A city building facade features colorful geometric patterns in red, yellow, green, and purple, resembling African designs. Two cars are parked in front of the building on the street.
NMWA's façade as part of Esther Mahlangu, South African Muralist: The BMW Art Car and Related Works; 1994
A woman with a dark skin tone standing on a scaffold painting a colorful mural onto a wall.
Esther Mahlangu paints NMWA's façade as part of Esther Mahlangu, South African Muralist: The BMW Art Car and Related Works; 1994
A woman with a dark skin tone wearing a colorful traditional South African garb is painting on the side of a wall.
Esther Mahlangu paints NMWA's facade as part of Esther Mahlangu, South African Muralist: The BMW Art Car and Related Works; 1994
A woman in traditional South African attire paints geometric patterns on a window frame. She stands on a ladder wearing a colorful blanket, a man stands below, assisting. The setting appears to be urban with a museum sign in the background.
Esther Mahlangu paints NMWA's facade as part of Esther Mahlangu, South African Muralist: The BMW Art Car and Related Works; 1994
A woman and man in traditional South African garments standing in front of a McDonalds.
Esther Mahlangu and her son on New York Avenue as part of Esther Mahlangu, South African Muralist: The BMW Art Car and Related Works; 1994
A large red ladder is standing by a facade of a house.
Scaffolding for NMWA's mural by Esther Mahlangu as part of Esther Mahlangu, South African Muralist: The BMW Art Car and Related Works; 1994
Several paint cans standing next to each other.
Paint cans for NMWA's mural by Esther Mahlangu as part of Esther Mahlangu, South African Muralist: The BMW Art Car and Related Works; 1994

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BMW Art Car

“Ndebele art is naturally grandiose in form and only needed the concept of motion added.”

—Esther Mahlangu

The exhibition also featured Mahlangu’s Art Car, a BMW 525i she painted with her signature colorful and geometric forms. BMW’s project started in 1975 when racecar driver Hervé Poulin invited Alexander Calder to paint his BMW racecar, sparking an ongoing collaboration with 20 artists.

Mahlangu, who participated in 1991, was the first woman and first African artist invited to create an Art Car. NMWA’s 1994 exhibition, organized in partnership with BMW, was attended by many notable visitors, including then BMW Chairman and CEO Dr. Helmut Panke.

An overhead view of a BMW car painted with bold geometric patterns in red, blue, green, yellow, pink, and black, set against a dark background.
BMW Art Car as part of Esther Mahlangu, South African Muralist: The BMW Art Car and Related Works; 1994
A woman with a dark skin tone, wearing traditional South African garments painting a white surface.
Esther Mahlangu paints the BMW Art Car as part of Esther Mahlangu, South African Muralist: The BMW Art Car and Related Works; 1994
A BMW car painted in a colorful geometric pattern.
BMW Art Car as part of Esther Mahlangu, South African Muralist: The BMW Art Car and Related Works; 1994
A woman with a dark skin tone, wearing traditional South African garments painting a white surface.
Esther Mahlangu paints the BMW Art Car as part of Esther Mahlangu, South African Muralist: The BMW Art Car and Related Works; 1994
A bus ad advertising a colorful car painted in geometric patterns.
Bus ad for Esther Mahlangu, South African Muralist: The BMW Art Car and Related Works; 1994

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Notable Visits

Maya Angelou and Nelson Mandela

Among the visitors to the exhibition was poet and activist Dr. Maya Angelou, who delivered remarks in front of the newly painted mural for the exhibition opening in September 1994.

Another notable visit was from Nelson Mandela in the fall of 1994. During his first trip to the US as President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela visited NMWA with the museum’s founder, Wilhelmina Cole Holladay, to view Mahlangu’s work.

A group of people viewing photographs in a museum.
Wilhelmina Cole Holladay and Nelson Mandela view Esther Mahlangu, South African Muralist: The BMW Art Car and Related Works; 1994
A dark-skinned woman stands at a podium which is set up outside of a large building and in front of a large crowd of people. The woman points to another dark-skinned woman to the right, who is dressed in colorful, traditional African dress and jewelry. She smiles warmly next to a light-skinned woman with shoulder-length brown hair and a dark-skinned man. Behind the podium is a large geometric mural.
Maya Angelou gives remarks at the opening celebration for Esther Mahlangu, South African Muralist: The BMW Art Car and Related Works; 1994
Nelson Mandela is greeting a child with a dark skin color, wearing a red beret and red shirt.
Nelson Mandela visits Esther Mahlangu, South African Muralist: The BMW Art Car and Related Works; 1994
A group of people standing before a staircase. A man with a medium dark skin color is holding a small painted car.
Nelson Mandela, Wilhelmina Cole Holladay, and Dr. Helmut Panke, Chairman and CEO of BMW US Holding Corporation visit Esther Mahlangu, South African Muralist: The BMW Art Car and Related Works; 1994
Zindzi Mandela, Nelson Mandela's daughter, and a group of children visit Esther Mahlangu, South African Muralist: The BMW Art Car and Related Works; 1994

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Mahlangu’s Influence

Sonya Clark

Mahlangu has served as inspiration for many artists, including Sonya Clark (b. 1967). Clark transforms everyday materials, such as human hair, plastic combs, and glass beads, into works that probe identity and visibility, appraise the force of the African Diaspora, and redress history.

In 2014, Mahlangu painted two murals for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) in Richmond. Clark, then a professor and chair of the craft/material studies department at Virginia Commonwealth University, challenged her students to respond with a collaborative beaded piece.

A colorful, abstract artwork featuring geometric shapes and bold lines is displayed upright in a glass case on a white pedestal, set against a dark background.
Sonya Clark, Esther Mahlangu’s Touch, 2015; Glass beads, 16 x 16 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Museum purchase: Members’ Acquisition Fund and Belinda de Gaudemar Curatorial Fund; © Sonya Clark; Photo by Sancha McBurnie
Tiny, colorful beads arranged in patterns to depict Esther Mahlangu painting a large artwork of geometric shapes in light pink and blue, black, white, yellow, and green. She is a dark-skinned adult woman wearing colorfully patterned robes.
Sonya Clark, Esther Mahlangu’s Touch, 2015; Glass beads, 16 x 16 in.; Museum purchase: Members’ Acquisition Fund and Belinda de Gaudemar Acquisition Fund; © Sonya Clark; Photo by Taylor Dabney
The back of a textile piece, consisting of off-white fabric patches bordered by white strips. Several patches feature handwritten or embroidered names such as "Elizabeth Henderson" and "Meg Roberts."
Sonya Clark, Esther Mahlangu’s Touch (back), 2015; Glass beads, 16 x 16 in.; Museum purchase: Members’ Acquisition Fund and Belinda de Gaudemar Curatorial Fund; © Sonya Clark; Photo by Taylor Dabney

Esther Mahlangu’s Touch

While Mahlangu painted at the VMFA, Clark photographed her at work, an image that Clark and her students re-created using techniques inspired by Ubhule women of South Africa. The work, Esther Mahlangu’s Touch (2015), is composed of 16 squares; each of Clark’s 15 students completed one square and signed the back. Clark herself contributed the final piece, featuring Mahlangu with a paintbrush in hand.

Esther Mahlangu’s Touch was displayed for over a year alongside Mahlangu’s murals at the VMFA. The work was later shown at NMWA in the exhibition Sonya Clark: Tatter, Bristle, and Mend in 2021, and it is now part of NMWA’s collection. Glass beads are an important part of Clark’s practice as well. She is interested in the material’s use in ornamentation, religion, trade, and play. Beads are a symbol for community, channeling her ancestors, a quest for connection, and a celebration of creativity.

Legacy

“If people see the bright colors, they are happy. And it makes me happy as well, as I love to paint; it is in my heart and in my blood.”

—Esther Mahlangu

Esther Mahlangu has received several honorary doctorate degrees for her contribution to the preservation of Ndebele culture, from institutions including from the University of South Africa, the University of Johannesburg, and Durban University of Technology.

In addition to her involvement in national and international projects, Mahlangu is committed to passing on the tradition of mural painting. She opened an art school in her hometown of KwaMahlanga, where students meet after school to learn traditional Ndebele painting techniques.

Her success thus seems only to have strengthened her connection to her artistic lineage and to the meaning painting has held for her people for generations.

A portrait of woman with a dark skin tone wearing a colorful traditional South African garb.
Portrait of Esther Mahlangu in front of NMWA's facade for Esther Mahlangu, South African Muralist: The BMW Art Car and Related Works; 1994

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