Henk Serfontein in collaboration with Keiskamma Art Project, administered by Spier Arts Trust

Ukubhala Ngesandla / Handskrif / Handwriting

2023
Embroidered tapestry 

985 x 1350 x 35 mm

Courtesy Spier Collection

Henk Serfontein continues his investigation into the fragility of the human body. “We are our hands. The hand is an instrument of love and compassion, of violence and anger, of protection and rejection. It gives, it takes, it comforts but also fights back.” 

Serfontein worked with embroidery artists Veronica Bettani, Nokuzola Mvaphantsi, Saneliswa Maxengana and Lindiswa Gedze to co-create Ukubhala Ngesandla / Handskrif / Handwriting. This group informally started referring to themselves as the Fragile Flora team. 

After spending a week in Hamburg, exploring each other’s artistic narratives and learning from each other’s artistic practice, the Fragile Flora team started experimenting with photographic images. The idea was to expand on Serfontein’s HANDSKRIF series, where the artist worked with acclaimed Afrikaans poets (including Antjie Krog, Joan Hambidge, Wilma Stockenström and Diana Ferrus) to select a line from one of their poems and write it on their own hands which Serfontein then photographed and translated into charcoal and mixed media artworks.  

At the end of visit, Serfontein asked the embroiderers to write message of hope on the palm of their own hands in their mother tongue (isiXhosa), to ensure that the personal narrative of each artist becomes part of the final collaborative piece. These messages became a confessional – a place where they shared their inner thoughts and feelings. The text on each hand became a self-portrait without showing a face.  

Veronica, Nokuzola, Saneliswa and Lindiswa claimed their voice. Ukubhala Ngesandla / Handskrif / Handwriting artwork gives each artist agency. Serfontein was deeply moved by their messages and became acutely aware of the hopes, joys, struggles and fears of these women. 

Translated by themselves into English: 

Veronica Bettani wrote “May God help children to walk away from drugs”; 

Nokuzola Mvaphantsi wrote “The better life for children”;  

Saneliswa Maxengana wrote: “Think”;  

Lindiswa Gedze wrote “Dance to lift your spirit”.  

Each embroidery artist worked on their own arm and hand. In the background, together they created a rich narrative texture. The hand palms of each artist were traced, exploring some expressive stitching. This was framed by stitching that followed the contours of the hand palms. Serfontein says the movement in the contours reminds him of the grassy hills and koppies of Hamburg, in the late afternoon when the wind makes visible the invisible. 

The hand palms also remind him of Nelson Mandela’s “Hands of Africa” artwork, where he traced his own hands…it reveres Nelson Mandela the peacemaker. 

Serfontein says: “Hands to me have become an extension of the incredible spectrum of our emotions. You can choose to push someone away with your hands or you can draw someone closer with them. You can choose to inflict pain or to console – to heal. This collaboration was about the latter. It was about reaching out and finding each other in that space in between. It was about listening to and hearing each other’s stories and about healing the divide through our collaboration.”