Biography
“…I am the artist that can see inside the wood…I can see the picture while the wood is still on the tree. I am the doctor of wood because I can see inside the wood” – Nelson Mukhuba 1987
Nelson was born in 1925 and died in 1987. He worked mainly in marula and jacaranda woods, drawing on the reservoir of traditional wood-carving skills among the Venda people.
“IMMORTAL POWER” (Crocodile Spear)
When the Vendas colonized the lands South of the Limpopo 400 years ago, they were accompanied by the mysterious clan – the Lembas – who claimed that they belonged to one of the lost tribes of Israel. (With the founding of the Transvaal Republic, President Paul Kruger dubbed them the black Jews, a term still beloved by them) They were outstanding craftsmen and nearly all ironwork was done by them – the melting of the ore and its transformation to weapons and tools, while both tribes generally believe in the same supernatural crocodile inhabiting. THE HOLY LAKE FUNDUDZI. (to whom till the beginning of the last century, a virgin was offered during a ceremony once a year).
The Vendas believe that this beast is endemic to the lake, but the Lembas believe that it can leave during dark nights and roam the surrounding countryside. It then takes on some human attributes, such as walking upright like a man, and it is armed with human weapons, which it has robbed from its victims. The carving of the latter type was made by some unknown Lemba –artist (long dead as far as can be established). A Venda version of the same Lake Fundudzi crocodile, made by Azwifarwi Ragimana is exhibited in the Pietersburg Art Gallery.
