Serpentine to unveil a new site-specific mural by artist Esther Mahlangu. On view in the garden at Serpentine North from 4th October 2024 to 28th September 2025, the monumental painting will celebrate concepts of community and unity. The work will mark her first public artwork in the UK.
I am proud to present this monumental outdoor work at Serpentine in London. The title ‘Umuntu ngumuntu ngabuntu’ means ‘I am because you are’. It is my wish that this painting brings much joy to those who see it in celebration and recognition of the interconnectedness that exists between our two nations and indeed all living beings.
Esther Mahlangu
Celebrated for her brightly coloured geometric paintings rooted in matrilineal Ndebele culture, Dr Esther Mahlangu (b. 1935, South Africa) has been creating large-scale and site-specific works for over eight decades. She began painting at the age of ten, learning the traditional Ndebele techniques and visual language of covering houses in bold patterns from her mother and grandmother.
Mahlangu uses natural pigments mixed with clay, soil and cow dung to paint directly on the exteriors of structures in her village. Rather than using stencils and tape to achieve lines and shapes, she paints by hand with chicken feathers and an array of different brushes. The artist also works with acrylic paints on canvas, which allows her to explore different scales and a broader colour palette.
Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu, presented in the garden at Serpentine North, is the artist’s first public mural in the UK. Painted over sixteen wooden panels, the work depicts Ndebele shapes and patterns outlined with a black border.
Bettina Korek, CEO, and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director, Serpentine said:
Esther Mahlangu is one of the most important artists of our time who continues to inspire emerging talents. We met for the first time in 1989 at the ‘Magiciens de la Terre’ exhibition and, today, the dream of a Serpentine mural has come true. Mahlangu is a polymath who brings art into society. This new vibrant work resonates with Zaha Hadid’s spectacular architecture and follows presentations of public artworks which include Gerhard Richter, Yayoi Kusama and Atta Kwami. One of Mahlangu’s largest works to date in a museum context, Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu will be accompanied by a new book on the artist’s life and oeuvre, published by Thames & Hudson. This is a wonderful moment to celebrate Serpentine’s friendship with the artist and honour her work in the UK.
Mahlangu’s work was first shown internationally in Paris at the seminal exhibition Les Magiciens de la Terre (Magicians of the World) in Grande Halle de la Villette in 1989. Since then, she has exhibited widely and created many site-specific murals, in addition to ceramic pots, skateboards and trainers. In 1991, she was the first woman invited to paint the BMW Art Car – a prestigious commission started in 1975 to create a one-of-a-kind car design using a variety of artistic techniques. Her work is currently presented at the 60th International Biennale di Venezia as one of the artists featured in main presentation, titled ‘Foreigners Everywhere’, and curated by Adriano Pedrosa on view until 24th November 2024.
Since it launched in 1970, Serpentine has had a long-standing commitment to bringing art out of the traditional gallery context and into the surrounding landscape, offering an opportunity for artists to engage with the immediate environment of Kensington Gardens.
Kusama’s Pumpkin situated at the Round Pond in Kensington Gardens is the latest in a long-standing series of remarkable public presentations in The Royal Parks since Serpentine’s foundation in 1970 which includes the recently inaugurated STRIP-TOWER (2023) by German luminary Gerhard Richter currently situated on the outdoor plinth at Serpentine South.
About the artist
Dr Esther Mahlangu (b. 1935, South Africa) is a multi-award-winning visual artist and celebrated cultural ambassador. She is widely considered a visionary and disruptor, being the first person to reimagine Ndebele design in different media.
Mahlangu’s works are in notable museum collections including The Smithsonian Museum, Washington D.C.; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Brooklyn Museum, New York and Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles, among others. In 2018 She was presented with two honorary doctorates from University of Johannesburg and Durban University of Technology and has received two more since then in 2022 from Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) and from University of South Africa (UNISA) in 2024. In 2019 she received the Officer of Arts and Letters award – France’s highest decoration for contribution to the arts. In 2020 the Department of Arts and Culture published a book in her honour and she received an award from the United Nations in Johannesburg in 2019. Since her work was included in the seminal group show Les Magiciens de la Terre in Grande Halle de la Villette in Paris, France in 1989, Mahlangu’s work has been shown in group and solo exhibitions around the world. In 2024 ‘Then I Knew I Knew I Was Good at Painting: Esther Mahlangu, A Retrospective’ was launched at the Iziko South African National Gallery in Cape Town. Her work is included in Foreigners Everywhere, this year’s edition of La Biennale di Venezia, 60th International Art Exhibition. Mahlangu is represented by The Melrose Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.
