Pekiwa - Innovations in Wood Sculpture

-forthcoming in Portuguese in Notícias - Cultura, Maputo, Mozambique

When you arrive at Pekiwa’s atelier on the Matola River, about 20 km from Maputo, you know that you have arrived at a residence that is unmistakably that of an artist. Although the space is still a work in progress, it is immediately evident why Pekiwa has chosen to live just far enough away from the noise and confusion of the capital city in a natural paradise built by the artist’s own hands.

With his modest home and studio residing on the same property, Pekiwa has transformed his large plot of land into what functions essentially as an outdoor sculpture gallery. Amidst native plants and artistic landscaping, visitors are warmly welcomed and left to appreciate the wide range of sculptures gracing the property.

Pekiwa is legacy to Mozambique’s rich heritage in wood sculpture, both artistic descendant biological descendant of the sculptor, Govane, his father. Govane is a contemporary of Alberto Chissano, who gave birth to Modern wood sculpture in Mozambique. Even after committing suicide in 1994, Chissano remains one of Mozambique’s most famous artists, alongside the painter, Malagatana. Chissano opened the floodgates for Pekiwa’s father and a generation of sculptors who emerged around the time of Mozambique’s independence and whose work was considered to be a voice of resistance against colonial power and oppression.

If Chissano and Govane represent the old, Modernist guard, perhaps Pekiwa and his works—which are typically recycled and found objects sculpted with a Modern aesthetic—herald a new Postmodern, generation. But Govane, a well-respected sculptor in his own right, didn’t react favorably when he learned that his son possessed a similar inclination to create art from wood. Fearing disapproval from his father, an adolescent Pekiwa used to pick up tools when his father was out tending his crops and began to teach himself to sculpt. Upon seeing what he had made in secret, Govane flew into a rage and broke his son’s first works.

Pekiwa has many stories to tell about the battles he had with his father (including the time when his father cut his nascent dreadlocks), but it was not until Govane finally threw Pekiwa out of the house at age 18 that he began the process of “freeing himself from the influence of his father” and defining his own artistic identity.

Shortly after striking out on his own, Pekiwa abandoned his given name, Nelson Augusto Carlos Ferriera, and put together different sounds he liked to form “Pekiwa,” the artistic name by which he has been known ever since.

Pekiwa says he’s happy that people now tell him that “they look at his work and can identify it as his.” Although he also sculpts on sandalwood and other woods, Pekiwa is one of the few, if not only, sculptor in Mozambique working with recycled and found objects. He says that these materials—aging wooden train tracks, and old doors and windows frames—“transmit messages because of their historical richness.” He’s fascinated by “transforming something old into something new, but allowing the old to retain its rustic integrity.”

Pekiwa has developed an ongoing love affair with Ilha de Mocambique where he has done two-month long residencies over the past few years. For Pekiwa, “Ilha,” now a UNESCO World Heritage site, is a treasure-trove of historic artifacts and architecture, much of it dating back to the 1800s and beyond. During his residencies on Ilha, Pekiwa says he wanders the neighborhoods and the ruins, and finds pieces and objects which call to him, asking to be given new life.

It’s not only the relics of days gone by that inspire him, but also the people of Ilha, the colors, and the differences from his native province of Maputo. Unlike his father’s generation which expressed suffering, hunger and violence in their work, Pekiwa’s sculptures are characterized by the quest to find hope and beauty in human experience, and are inspired by the simple things of daily life—how bodies move, ancestral tattoos, relationships between people, women and children in the market, and people finding happiness despite their daily struggles. He says that he “sees beautiful things” when he sits with the “old guys drinking beer at the barracas,” and just observes and listens to the knowledge they have accumulated.

Although Pekiwa began his career selling his sculptures at downtown Maputo’s Saturday wood market, these days he sells primarily to individual collectors who purchase his pieces at exhibitions or after visiting his atelier. He has always been able to live solely off his sculptures which have garnered the attention of many a discerning eye. His output is steady and his works generally sell quickly, but fortunately Pekiwa, who recently turned 30, has a long career of innovation in the art of wood sculpture ahead of him.

Visits to Pekiwa’s atelier can be arranged by contacting pekiwa77@yahoo.com.br or +258-82-8958770.