Queen Motlatle is stepping into a powerful new chapter, adding “fine artist” to an already formidable legacy in film and television.
The award-winning hair, makeup and prosthetics designer is now taking her storytelling beyond the screen and into the global art world. Currently showcasing her evocative work, Isicholo: A Crown of Ancestral Unity, at the prestigious Kunsthalle München, Motlatle reflects on the moment with humility.
“I’m now a documented artist. I never imagined I would evolve into a fine artist,” Motlatle says.
“I thought I could collaborate with artists and add a piece of hair to their paintings that they drew. That’s what I thought I could do. But look now, I’m exhibiting in big museums overseas.”
The theme of the exhibition is Hair, Power and Pleasure, running until October.
Motlatle, 51, has more than 30 years’ experience and has contributed to local and international film, television and theatre productions, including high-profile projects District 9, Shaka iLembe, House of Zwide, Soon Comes Night and The Lion King world tour. She also scored the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work at the 2010 SA Fifa World Cup global sporting event.
Motlatle is the founder of House of Queen, a prominent grooming company offering makeup, hairstyling, prosthetic special effects, body painting and creative direction. The inspiration behind her art piece is a vision she has held for herself since launching her company.
“If you look at the House of Queen logo, which was designed 20 years ago, it is the image of isicholo. The lines running through it that create the pockets are where my dreams and vision of the business are. Then, God, being God, brought Shaka iLembe into my lap, and I got the opportunity to extensively research the Zulu culture,” says Motlatle.
“The journey of how the Zulu isicholo is made is that it begins at 13, at puberty, when a teenage girl’s hair is put into a jar and kept in a sacred place. Before her wedding day, the hair is taken out and combined with the mother’s, aunties’, siblings’ and extended family hair. Villagers would also donate their hair, and it all gets woven into the bride’s hair permanently.
“Her movement, stature and posture would change because she was aware she was carrying her entire village and her ancestors with her. The red ochre colour, ubovu, is the blood of the cow, which symbolises both spiritual protection and the coming together of the families.”
Motlatle says the art piece carries more than symbolic significance but is a living legacy of African innovation through hair.
“I didn’t create it or resurrect it only to talk about it. I’ve recreated it for people to feel it, remember it, wear it and pass it on so that its legacy mustn’t die. It is my artistic and cultural duty to ensure that such stories are not only remembered but also felt, worn, and passed on,” she says.
“It is a tribute to forgotten matriarchs and the brilliance of ceremonial beauty. Also, this has opened an opportunity for me to work on a solo exhibition in the future and be in a residency where I will craft and resurrect more than one piece of living artefacts that our ancestors created with meanings that tell a story about our African people.”
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