Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Gogo brings a splash of colour to the world
ESTHER Mahlangu is 81 years old, has painted the tail of a Boeing jet, a BMW, and has partnered with US singer and songwriter John Legend to combat HIV/Aids.
Everything about Mahlangu is bright and colourful and, despite her quiet demeanour and petite stature, hers is a globe-trotting life.
A guest at the Made in Africa Exhibition on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa Conference in Durban this week, Mahlangu said she loved travelling and had shown her Ndebele art in the US, Europe and Japan.
The gogo from Mpumalanga was first “discovered” by French art researchers in 1986 when they stumbled upon her brightly painted home, Ndebele-style in Weltevrede. She has since bcome renowned for her art.
On painting the BMW525i prototype, she said: “It was the first time I had gone overseas and they told me there was no mealie meal, so I took over 50kg of my own.”
Her next giant work was to paint the Boeing tail.
She recently partnered with US singer John Legend, and Belvedere Luxury Vodka to raise funds for HIV/ Aids projects, with 50% of the proceeds going to fight Aids in the focus of mother-to-child transmission.
WEF sessions focused to a large extent on the digital revolution, but Mahlangu said the main challenge on the continent was the young generation was too caught up in technology.
“They are too modernised and are forgetting about our culture, which they need to take forward to their next generation,” she said.
Mahlangu will travel to the US in December, but is mum on the details.