Home » Esther Mahlangu Honoured for Creating Unique Cultural Pieces… Now Dr Mahlangu

Esther Mahlangu Honoured for Creating Unique Cultural Pieces… Now Dr Mahlangu

World Renowned Ndebele artist, known for creating unique and culturally significant pieces, Esther Mahlangu was on Monday honoured by the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in South Africa with a doctoral degree. Mahlangu was honoured for her “legacy as a cultural entrepreneur who has skilfully negotiated local and global worlds and played a major role as […]

By Wendy Mothata
11-11-21 18:27
in Fab South African Stuff

World Renowned Ndebele artist, known for creating unique and culturally significant pieces, Esther Mahlangu was on Monday honoured by the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in South Africa with a doctoral degree.

Mahlangu was honoured for her “legacy as a cultural entrepreneur who has skilfully negotiated local and global worlds and played a major role as an educator”.

The global icon was born in 1935 near Middleburg. She paints with a passion and says she is desperate for her culture to not die.

“To paint is in my heart and it’s in my blood,” she told reporters in 2016. Mahlangu started at 10. “The way I paint was taught to me by my mother and my grandmother.”

She has joined forces with international brands like BMW and singer John Legend. In 2016 Mahlangu’s painting was featured on the panels of a BMW 7- series, which is now part of a South African BMW heritage collection.

Mahlangus’s work has been featured at galleries across the globe.

Her fans took to social media to show gratitude and congratulate the icon’s achievement.

Minister of Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa, tweeted: “Congratulations to our living legend, Dr Esther Mahlangu for being conferred with an Honourary Doctorate by the University of Johannesburg. For many decades Dr Mahlanga has not only soared, but she has proudly carried African culture & heritage on the wings of her artistic genius”

#CongratulationsDrEstherMahlangu