Pardon Mapondera I Hutsanana

Mapondera's practice centres around the concept of Hutsanana, a Zezuru word that describes a holistic soundness of being through the idea of cleanliness or hygiene. In particular, how the concept of Hutsanana, from its original meaning of a bodily and spiritual purity, has been stripped of its spiritual connotations to reflect instead the Western concept of hygiene.

Mapondera is fascinated by the broader definitions of hygiene, where the meaning stretches beyond the mundane. The traditional African ideas of hygiene, which are centred around ideas of bodily and spiritual purity, have transformed over the decades through contact with other cultures. Viewed through the lens of a broader definition of hygiene, the idea of the modern demise and compromised moral standards in post-colonial Africa creates interesting and complex situations which he explores in his art.

He proposes, “Artists are the eye of the world, we make futures and are the justice warriors. We look forwards and backwards. We have the ability to change things. Art reveals the truth."

 

"My material of choice is found materials. Through this spectrum of unpredictable paraphernalia of materials I’m able to collect, contend, and curate already existing histories, stories, continuing politics embedded in this debris of a consumerist culture."

"I'm fascinated by the flexibility of some of the materials that I use, how for instance heat transforms plastic into a metaphor for contorted and traumatised bodies.

 

At this point the materials carry their own stories and philosophy. As an artist I become the curator and broker of these stories."

The post-colonial domestic space is a fertile context in which to explore some of these dynamic and shifting ideas and themes, which continue the transgenerational conversations around hygiene and purity. These are further complicated by socio-political and cultural dynamics. By using basic domestic materials like cleaning rags and dish towels, he uses the concepts of hygiene and cleanliness as signifiers for the larger moral and spiritual crisis of our time.