Vuminkosi ZULU (1948 – 1996)
Awaiting Trail
1975
etching
edition 7/40
41 x 32 cm
The Postman
1975
etching
edition 2/30
26.5 x 27.5 cm
BIOGRAPHY
Vuminkosi Zulu was born in Mapumulo, KwaZulu-Natal.
In the early 1970s, he attended the Evangelical Lutheran Church Art and Craft Centre at Rorke’s Drift, where he befriended fellow artist Judus Mahlangu.
In 1973, Zulu was awarded the Hajee Suliman Memorial Award.
He worked, for a time, with Mahlangu in Springs on the East Rand before returning to Rorke’s Drift between 1976 and 1977.
In 1976, his work was exhibited as part of Black South Africa: Contemporary Graphics at the Brooklyn Museum and the New York Public Library. It was also included in an exhibition that toured Germany in 1978 and 1979.
Known primarily for his woodcarving, Zulu also worked as a printmaker.
In 1982, he created a monumental woodcarving entitled ‘The Battle of Isandlwana’, for which he was awarded a sculpture prize. This piece is in the old KwaZulu parliamentary building in Ulundi.
In 1990, he received a Thupelo scholarship, which allowed him to spend six months studying in Sweden. On his return from Sweden, he exhibited his work in a joint exhibition with Raphael Magwaza at the African Art Centre, Durban.
It was at this point that he met Malcolm Christian, master printer of the Caversham Press and director of the Educational Trust. In 1995, Zulu exhibited as part of the Spirit of our Stories exhibition at the Standard Bank National Arts Festival, Grahamstown (now Makhanda).
In 1996, Zulu was diagnosed with a tumour on his jaw which turned out to be malignant. Before he died, in the Edendale Hospital, Pietermaritzburg, he granted Christian permission to make reprints from the plates that he had brought up to the Caversham Press and requested that he arrange a posthumous exhibition that would generate some income for his wife and five children, Sibusiso, Philile, Nkanyiso, and the twins Nhlanhla and Sinenhlanhla. This tribute exhibition of his work was duly presented by The Caversham Press and the Educational Trust.
Zulu’s work is represented in numerous South African and international collections.