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Inspired by his Xhosa heritage, Madoda Fani makes hand-coiled, burnished and smoke-fired pieces that are a contemporary evolution of the traditional ceramics indigenous to Southern Africa.
Born in 1975, Fani grew up in Gugulethu township in Cape Town and studied graphic design at Sivuyile College. To make money to further his studies, he worked as a ceramic painter in various pottery studios, resulting in his love for clay being born and slowly developing his own pieces and style. In 2000, his work was selected for the Salon Internationale de l'Artisanat de Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. There he met the ceramicist Simon Masilo, who introduced him to smoke-firing.
In 2009, he moved to Johannesburg and began to deepen his craft, guided by Masilo, and then at the Kim Sacks School of Ceramics. He learned how to burnish clay with a stone from Jabu Nala, the daughter of legendary Zulu beer-pot maker Nesta Nala, and mastered smoke-firing techniques under the guidance of Nic Sithole. He credits these artists for helping to mould him into the artist he is today.
Although he uses traditional techniques, Fani's curvaceous, coiled forms and hand-carved embellishments are entirely distinct. He works on a large scale, building organic-shaped vessels whose smooth surfaces are punctuated by intricate, repetitive patterns that give them a scaled, insect-like appearance. His 2021 collection of carved ceramics titled iQweqwe, saw his patterned incisions become an all-encompassing ‘skin’ in this series of 12 hand-coiled works. The isiXhosa title can be translated as “crust” but here refers to insect exoskeletons, a central fascination for Fani.
He has exhibited widely with Southern Guild, including a collaborative exhibition with Chuma Maweni, Idangatye, in 2017. He has branched out into clay seating, timber furniture and bronze sculpture. The gallery has presented his work at Expo Chicago, Design Miami, Investec Cape Town Art Fair, The Salon Art + Design in New York, and as part of the Christie’s London annual design auction.
Fani has joined residency programmes in Argentina (2009), France (2013), Austria (2023) and Mexico (2023). He was invited by Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in the US to teach a 2023 summer workshop and was featured in Clay Formes, edited by Olivia Barrell and published by Art Formes (2023).
Fani was a finalist for the LOEWE Foundation Craft Prize in 2022 and received first prize at the 2016 Ceramics Southern Africa Exhibition, among others. He has work in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina, and in the collections of the LOEWE Foundation and HRH Franz, Duke of Bavaria.
Madoda Fani
Untitled Uncarved Form, 2020Smoke-fired earthenware
16.88 x 15.75 x 15.75 in.
Madoda Fani
Soze Isitulo Sodaka (Mud Chair), 2020Smoke-fired earthenware
32.25 x 15.75 x 14.63 in.
Madoda Fani
Inkomo Zhobawo (Our Father's Cows)Smoke-fired earthenware
41.75 x 22 x 22 in.
Madoda Fani
Akahluwa (The Undefeated), 2022Burnished, smoke-fired earthernware
52 x 37 x 33.88 in.
Madoda Fani
Zimelegeqe (Standing on My Own), 2023Burnished, smoke-fired earthenware
34⅝ x 17¾ x 15 in.
Madoda Fani and Chuma Maweni
Cape Town 2 Mar - 13 Mar 2017
Madoda Fani
Cape Town 22 Jul - 1 Oct 2021
Group show
Cape Town 27 Feb - 1 Apr 2015
Group show
Cape Town 24 Nov - 13 Mar 2017
Group show
Cape Town 19 Mar - 30 Jul 2023
Group show
Cape Town 8 Apr - 1 Jul 2016
Group show
Johannesburg 3 Aug - 8 Sept 2012
Group show
Cape Town 29 Oct - 4 Dec 2020
Group show
Cape Town 9 Apr - 7 May 2020
Group show
Cape Town 26 Nov - 7 Feb 2019