Gumball #107 “Damaged not Destroyed”
The sculpture by Mustafah Dhada that inspired a Rengay/Concrete Poem
I had the pleasure of meeting Professor Mustafah Dhada in 2014 at Fusionglass Company for The Black - White & Cadmium Red Show. He brought enough sketches to fill the gallery along with incredible sculptures. More than honored to show my hand painted silks at the gallery. I kept this scarf and still have the event cards.
If you have been following my offerings you might know at our first introduction why seeing the rainbow line up of colored chalk caught my eye.
Dhada is a true renaissance man in every sense!
He is one of the most interesting people I have ever met. A scholar extraordinaire, a historian who documents the atrocities of war, an author, and an award winning sculptor.
Much has been written about him. I encourage you to take a deeper dive and read his author bio “The Portuguese Massacre of Wiriyamu In Colonial Mozambique, 1960-2013, (London: Bloomsbury Academic Press, 2017).
Of course I wanted to introduce his work to the prestigious SetuMag.com
Congratulations on ten years of producing this bilingual publication with 5,623,577 views to date. Setu, a Sanskrit word means bridge.
Thank you to Anurag Sharma, Editor-in-Chief, and Dr. Sunil Sharma, English editor for all your efforts to bring writers and viewers from all over the world together.
Read Dr. Sunil’s complete editorial here, he included a few of my thoughts about Dhada.
I believe writing brings the world together, this is the second time our collaborative work has been published in Setu.
Professor Mustafah Dhada’s sculpture “Damaged Not Destroyed” is more relevant than ever. The strength, resolve, and possibilities I feel viewing this piece I find very fortifying. It helps with old grief along with hope for current events.
Thank you to Christina Chin and Sarang Bhand for running with Abstract Articulations Special Edition. I had fun creating this concrete poem/word art from our Rengay writing. Wonderful to see others I admire in this edition. Jerome Berglund’s cutting edge work with Shane Coppage and Christina Chin are a delight to read. I am looking forward to taking a deeper dive into all of the contributors.
Jerome has been my bridge to Setu, Christina, and Sarang. One person can make a huge difference, can’t thank him enough. Enjoy some haiku and photography on his website.
www.instagram.com › berglundjeromehaikuJerome Berglund (@berglundjeromehaiku) - Instagram
My best friend, Debbie Solan, FGc Gallery/Studio owner did a fabulous write up about Dhada’s exhibit and fascinating lecture. I know you will enjoy her blog
https://fusionglassco.blogspot.com/2014/09/mustafah-dhada-exhibit-at-fusionglass-co.html?m=1
Happy to share one large sketch and three small ones came home with me. It was something to see the gallery walls filled with his expressive drawings along with his portfolios, and sculptures.
A bit of Dhada’s Bio ~
This won the American History Association’s Martin A. Klein Award for the most distinguished scholarly text in African history in 2017. I am including this information
“The genius of Dhada’s meticulously researched, the multi-layered account is twofold,” said the Klein jurors. It “places the grisly massacre in historical context… expands historical knowledge and perfects methods to produce a definitive social history of Wiriyamu.”
Learn more ~ https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B001KINBRU/about
Dhada writes about subjects that needs to be witnessed and remembered
2014 a very raw year for me ~ 1.25.13 is when our sweet Alyssa became our StarChild. She still sends us unexpected rainbows that I now expect. Know you why seeing the colored chalks when I first met Dhada jumped out to me.
“Broken Not Damaged” is such an intriguing sculpture. I believe he is willing to let this one go from his personal collection. Please let him know how you found out!
If Dos Equis brought back their “Most Interesting Man in the World” campaign ~ Dhada would nail it!
The commercials can found on YouTube ~ “Stay thirsty, my friends”
This is one of my longer posts, so much to share! Thank you again to the entire Setu family.
Dhada’s sketch reminded me of my sweet Alyssa. Dynamic, bold, and dancing in the stars, why this one had to come home with me!
till next week - Marjorie
Majorie, you are alive with creative energy and I know Alyssa is the fuel from which it all comes. Loved the poem/sculpture…and of course the wonderful picture of your beautiful girl dancing 😍
I love the descriptions with various artistic inspirations.