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As the Brooklyn Museum acquire work by South African artist Sthenjwa Luthuli, we take a look at how his headless figures have been inspired by a motivation to educate himself on his ancestral traditions.

Unit is delighted to announce that Sthenjwa Luthuli’s artwork, For the Life of a Child (2022) has been acquired by the Brooklyn Museum, New York. The acquisition follows Luthuli’s exhibition at Unit, London, Inzalo Ye Langa: Birthplace of the Sun, in 2023.

Aligned with the Brooklyn Museum’s vision “to be a place where art is a powerful force for personal transformation and social change”, Luthuli is an artist who has always worked with the understanding that art is a phenomenal educational tool.

“I was a person who was failed by the education system, but never called myself a failure” is a personal mantra of the artist, whose meticulously hand carved and painted pieces are inspired by African ancestral traditions. Luthuli sees that many younger generations in South Africa have grown distant from their heritage due to the legacies of colonisation, and in his youth he was only taught about Western culture. In reaction to this, Luthuli was motivated to teach himself about ancient African customs and spiritual traditions, which has in turn informed his colourful and geometric works today.

Headless figures, as seen in For the Life of Child, are a key motif throughout Luthuli’s work representing the missing names and identities of the artist’s forebears, lost to time.

Luthuli explains, “I’m incorporating headless figures in my work to honour my forefathers, whom I have never met but have heard beautiful stories about. Their legacies serve as guiding landmarks, helping future generations stay on their path. The title “For The Life Of A Child” illustrates how the rules and values inherited from previous generations can shape a child’s identity and life path.”

The headless figures also symbolise Luthuli’s strong belief in the human spirit. In ancient African birth rites, elders recognise the reincarnation of past generations in new-born babies, reflecting the cycle of life and spirit. Influenced by these traditions, Luthuli aims to convey how spirits pass on from one generation to the next. Through these headless forms, the artist represents the essence of a person before they become flesh and blood. 

As Azu Nwagbogu, Director of the African Artist’s Foundation, comments of Luthuli’s practice, “The absence of faces is a deliberate effort to avoid the anachronism in translating oral histories of ancestors through the pollution of the superfluity of contemporary images we consume today.”

The Life of A Child exemplifies these sentiments and more, as the flying body that moves freely across the carved image achieves a sense of liberation in the face of contemporary mundanity. For the work to have found a new home in the Brooklyn Museum, where it will now stand on public display and influence a new generation of art lovers, is testament to its educational potential and its ability to connect audiences to a spiritual past.