House turned art gallery provides a home for Tembisa's creative crowd

07 May 2017 - 02:00 By Bonginkosi Ntiwane
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MK poses in the gallery he started in Tembisa, Johannesburg.
MK poses in the gallery he started in Tembisa, Johannesburg.
Image: Alon Skuy

A Tembisa house has been transformed into 4ROOM, a gallery and creative space whose fame spreads by word of mouth, writes Bonginkosi Ntiwane

From the outside it's an ordinary four-room house in Tembisa. But step inside and you're surrounded by art.

The house is a haven for local artists and creatives, the brainchild of "MK", as he is known by all.

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He and his two brothers inherited the house from his mother, who was an Umkhonto weSizwe operative in the days when Tembisa was torn apart by bloodshed.

Now on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday nights you'll find people chatting, music in the background - sometimes a band performs - while others enjoy a game of chess in the yard.

In the seven years that 4ROOM has been a gathering point for creatives, it has become a legend - not that it advertises itself.

"The aim was not to put it out there but for people to find it," says MK.

We're sitting in his living room, which, like the kitchen, is crammed with art. MK runs the place with a small team.

He points to a portrait of a woman from Tembisa above his head, part of his series "We're All Village People".

"As an artist from here, there aren't any places made for you to get inspired. 4ROOM is about self-recovery, self-discovery and has a direct link to spirituality," he says.

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I give MK credit for keeping the place going for such a long time. He looks too exhausted to give compliments much thought. He also runs an online magazine, Sixteen Phashash, that profiles everything about the township. He is working on a book on the township's history.

Tembisa, established in 1957, is Gauteng's second-largest township, after Soweto. The bloodshed that plagued the township during the violent 1980s and early 1990s was partly fuelled by geographic divisions.

There are still hostels on the western part of Tembisa, in a section called Vusimuzi, that were dominated by Zulu-speaking IFP members. Ethafeni and its surrounds were predominantly ANC and PAC areas. Criminal gangs exploited the conflicts and added to the chaos.

MK and his team came second recently in the Geepee Tourism Challenge, when they competed with other sites across Gauteng to see who could offer the best experience to tourists.

Ironically, a tour through the hostels in Vusimuzi won the challenge.

MK wants to bring the community, government and schools together in a project that will impart Tembisa's history through art.

"We have check pozies all over the hood," he says, referring to the water tanks that are situated in different parts of Tembisa.

"We want to paint the faces of Tembisa's iconic figures on these big structures across the township."

These sons and daughters of Tembisa would include people such as Moses Molelekwa, a jazz pianist who committed suicide in 2001, and Thami Mnyele , a South African artist who was associated with the Black Consciousness movement.

"That says to anybody seeing it, 'Come and check out our place.'"

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