Umzila (The Legacy) exhibition at NWU Gallery

Exhibition title: Umzila (The Legacy)
Opening date: 12 August 2026
Closing date: 11 September 2026
Venue: NWU Gallery
Featured artists: Thandeka Mfinyongo
Curated by Bathandekile Myeni

Umzila (The Legacy) is an exhibition that explores instrument-making as an artistic, pedagogical, and archival practice through the Xhosa musical bow, uhadi.

At its core is the concept of the ideogrammatic archive, a way of understanding uhadi as a memory-evoking object that carries indigenous knowledge, identity, and histories through both sound and material form.

The exhibition presents a series of handcrafted bows alongside a video installation documenting their making. Together, these elements trace the intimate relationship between making, memory, and embodied knowledge. The process foregrounds the hands in relation to uhadi making, their labour, care, and repetition through which knowledge is held, transmitted, and remembered. In Umzila, crafting becomes a way of remembering. Uhadi becomes more than an instrument; it becomes a living archive that holds and transmits connections between past, present, and future

About the artist

Born in Nyanga East, Cape Town, Thandeka Mfinyongo is an African musician, scholar, and lecturer in African Music and Ethnomusicology at North-West University. A UCT-trained performer, SOAS graduate, and current PhD candidate, she performs globally and blends African instruments with contemporary sound innovatively.

About the NWU Gallery

The NWU Gallery, based at North-West University in Potchefstroom, the university’s creative haven that nurtures curiosity and interconnectivity. A dynamic cultural space dedicated to showcasing contemporary art and fostering critical dialogue. Committed to supporting emerging and established artists, the gallery serves as a platform for diverse voices and creative practices that engage with social, cultural, and philosophical themes. Through exhibitions, educational programmes, and community initiatives, the NWU Gallery promotes accessibility to the arts and encourages meaningful connections between artists, audiences, and ideas.

The NWU Gallery can be located at North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, Building F16G, 11 Hoffman Street, Potchefstroom, 2531. Look for the grey building with the red roof.

For more information, please contact: NWU Gallery | Tel: (018) 299 4341 | email: az.ca.uwn@yrellag.

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