Isingqala soMzili Ezona Njokweni

by Ezona Njokweni

‘Isingqala soMzili’, which translates to the lump of a widow and talks about a lump in a throat but in a metaphoric manner. The scientific term for the word is Globus Sensation. This body of work investigates and reimagines the SS Mendi widows by interpreting the lives of the black women during and in the post-apartheid era in South Africa to understand and trace the positionality of ‘widows’ in South Africa. This exhibition embodies the concept of widowhood because it is a universally shared experience. The politics of widowhood and mourning bring forward the thought of the radical transformation of marginalised individuals as they seek permanency. I use permanency as a space of reclaiming and restoration to consider the agency of black women to this day that is still omitted in historical archives. Could there have been widowhood friendships? Did they meet and congregate in prayer? What were their aspirations? Where would they be now? These questions serve as a radical point/progressive departure of their independence and agency. I am reclaiming their personhood, which is a step forward from the conscription of widowhood by restoring and finding their voices. Their under-representation is frozen in time, masked by misogyny and patriarchal waiting. There are historical gaps such as biographies, documentation, narratives, friendships, hustling, and radical forms of knowledge.