You Can Buy My Heart and My Soul

TITLE OF SCULPTURE:

 

‘Ungayithenga inhlizyo nomongo wami – (African curios)’

 

The former portion of the title is in Zulu and translates into

English as ‘You can buy my heart and my soul’

 

MORE ON THE TITLE

 

“In African mythology the elephant reincarnates carrying the soul of a murdered God. It is thus the embodiment of the transmigration of souls. It is also the metaphor for the world’s preoccupation with Africa as an exotic location. The elephant thus embodies the world’s romanticism with Africa. In part it is the Colonial panacea: wildness can be contained, civilised and taken back to the ballrooms of the First World as a trophy.” Andries Botha