This Is My Story
by
Marjorie Maleka
Compiled by Njabulo Ngobese
Day 16 of Women's month as we continue to salute the women who have dedicated themselves at making a change in our society by fighting for children's rights.
"I am an artist", that just about somes up Marjorie Maleka who was born in Vryburg in 1979 and grew up in the Free State under the guidance of her mother. She attended primary school at Reitz and secondary schooling at The Agricultural School of Seotlong. Marjorie art career began at Vaal Triangle Technikon in 1999 and she joined the Artist Proof Studio in 2001. She specialises in print-making and has participated in group exhibitions locally and abroad and now manages the Artist Proof Studio's Nhlanhla Xaba Gallery whilst in the process of learning Marketing and Sales.
Marjorie Maleka states that her work is about "human rights, with a focus on the rights of women". She combines printmaking, photography and collage in her work. Marjorie's long term goals include furthering her studies and becoming an artist as well as an art critic.
Poem:
Mary mother of no-one
Lindiwe Nkhutha
yet again unfounded myths
re-write themselves on my body
faceless malevolent voices
proclaim me the virginal cleanser
of heartache and dis-ease
while taking turns to fill me to the brim with same
my shrills swathed in regal stoles of collective silence
lie behind consensual paralytic truths
that have never walked,
let alone flown
i watch with a throat full of swallowed words
while my consent is sacrificed on alters to inconsiderate gods
it crushes the bones in my heart
that no one ever hears the
two, sometimes three, mostly seven pleadings
that drip out of the sides of my mouth
onto my pillow now gone deaf
will somebody…
will somebody, anybody…
somebody,
anybody,
your body
stop this madness
Ngingu Maria uma kamuntu
IsiZulu tranlsation: Lindiwe Nkutha
Kwenzeka futhi, izinganekwane ezingena msusa
Zizibhala emzimbeni wami
Amaphimbo anomunyu kodwa angenabo ubuso
Angibiza ngocwebileyo
Ogeza izinhlungu zenhliziyo nezifo zonke
Ngaleso sikhathi agcwalisa ubunjalo bami ngalezo zinhlungu
Izikhalo zami zemboswe ngengubo yobukhosi engasho lutho
Yona egquma amaqiniso akhubazekile
Angakaze ahamba
futhi angeke andize
Konke lokhu ngikubuka umphimbo wami ugcwele
Amagama engingakwazi ukuwagwinya
Kwenziwa izihlabelo egameni lami ngokuvuma kwami
Kwenzelwa onkulunkulu abengenandaba
Kuphula amathambo enhliziyo yami
Ukuthi akekho namunye okewezwa
Lawo mazwi amabili, ngesinye isikhathi amathathu
Kaniningi ayisikhombisa angumthandazo wami,
Ophuma ohlangothini linye lezindebe zami
Manje esengiwaxoxela umqamelo wami
nawo sewuyisithulu
ukhona mumbe…
ukhona mumbe, nanomawubani ...
mumbe,
nomawubani,
nawe qobolwakho
masibambisaneni siphelise lomkhuba.
A Brief Biography of Lindiwe Nkutha
Lindiwe Nkutha was born in Soweto to Mandla and Thandile Nkutha. Trained as an accountant and now working as a business development consultant, Lindiwe has come to heed the message that she has heard life whisper into her eyes and ears. She has spent most of her time honing her skills into various media, including photography and videography to complement her newly-acknowledged vocation to tell stories.
Some of her poetry has been published in feminist publications in the SADC region and read on stages of Jo'burg's underground poetry scene. A short film she made titled 'Muted Screams' was shown in South Africa and the United Kingdom. Her works as a photographer include 'This Way We Bleed' and 'Jocasta's Hairballs'.
Lindiwe's short stories appear in an anthology titled '180 degrees'. She is currently working on a novel.