Lilian Munyai (1962-2002)

Biography

Master potter, Lilian Munyai was born in 1962 and lived at Mukondeni Village near Elim, Venda. She was instructed in the art of pottery by her mother from the age of eight.

Her pots were made in the traditional way, which has accompanied by her matrilineal line for centuries.

Process: Clay is dug from the local riverbank and treated for two to three days before the pots are shaped. They are stained with Luvhundi (red ochre soil) and graphite, and left to dry for one month. The pots are then fired in an open fire consisting of layers of grass and wood.

Lilian’s pots are decorated with stark graphic and linear designs. Snakes, fish and plants being central to themes portrayed on these masterfully craft pots.

Her works have been widely collected both privately and in the corporate sector

APPRENTICE TO THE EARTH
By Stephanie Donau

The drive to Mukondeni is a tedious snake, a winding earth road. Once there, it’s not that difficult to find Lilian’s house, it is guarded by a moat of every kind of pottery. There are always people there: children, grown-ups, people helping to knead clay, people talking.

Lilian is a warm hearted professional, after all, this business has coursed through her veins for generations. Her mother has taught her the art of making pots since Lilian was eight years old. She clearly remembers her grandmother using wet blankets to keep the clay covered in the days before plastic.

Pottery has been with the Venda from the very beginning (shards were found at Mapungupwe) to carry, store and prepare water, beer and food. Lilian’s grandmother and great grandmother made these pots to traditional design and specification. To make clay pots the traditional way consists of many facets, each one being a journey. No wheels are used, electric or otherwise. No chemical glazes are applied. No electric kiln to fire in.

This tradition is the domain of Lilian Munyani. But it is Lilian who has moved from this tradition into a realm through which she expresses her own unique creativity within her pottery.

Her pots now extend into gigantic feats of earth, shaped in human hands, colossal vessels and flower-pots. The designs in graphite move organically on the surface, sometimes shining, other times swallowing itself, as is the nature of the mineral.
Being a witness to this process instills in one a sense of awe. It is a process that demands great knowledge of where to obtain materials, and patience (pots take up to one month to dry and skill). Watching Lilian work is an honour, since all things previously mentioned, combine in a slow dance between the earth and the potters hands