Serpentine North, Large-Scale Mural

This Autumn, Serpentine unveiled a new site-specific mural by artist Esther Mahlangu.

The project was made possible with support from BMW, The Melrose Gallery, The

Milstein Family and The Edward Lawrence Milstein Foundation. 

On view in the garden at Serpentine North from 4th October 2024 to 28th September

2025, the monumental painting celebrates concepts of community and unity. Umuntu

ngumuntu ngabuntu, which translates directly from Ndebele as 'I am because you are',

will mark her first public artwork in the UK and is a moment of great pride for South

Africa and the African Continent at large.

Celebrated for her brightly colored geometric paintings rooted in matrilineal Ndebele

culture, Dr Esther Mahlangu (b. 1935. South Africa) has been creating large-scale and

site-specific works for almost 8 decades. She began painting at the age of ten, learning

the traditional Ndebele techniques and visual language of covering houses in bold

patterns from her mother and grandmother.

Mahlangu uses natural pigments mixed with clay, soil and cow dung to paint directly on

the exterior structures in her village. Rather than using stencils and tape to achieve lines

and shapes, she paints with chicken feathers and an array of different brushes. The

artist also works with acrylic paint on canvas, which allows her to explore different

scales and a broader colour palette.

Umuntu ngumuntu ngabuntu, presented in the garden at Serpentine North, is the artist's

first public mural in the U.K. Painted over sixteen wooden panels, the work depicts

Ndebele shapes and patterns outlined with a black border.

Bettina Korek, CEO, and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director, Serpentine say: "Esther

Mahlangu is one of the most important artists of our time who continues to inspire

emerging talents. We met for the first time in 1989 at the 'Magiciens de la Terre'

exhibition and, today, the dream of a Serpentine Mural has come true. Mahlangu is a

polymath who brings art into society. This new vibrant work resonates with Zaha Hadid's

spectacular architecture and follows presentations of public artworks which include

Gerhard Richter, Yayoi Kusama and Atta Kwami. One of Mahlangu's largest works to

date in a museum context, Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu will be accompanied by a new

book on the artist's life and oeuvre, published by Thames and Hudson. This is a

wonderful moment to celebrate Serpentine's friendship with the artist and honour her

work in the UK. We're grateful for all our partners who have made this fantastic project

possible and particularly BMW for their support, and we hope audiences will engage

with the piece and the unique surroundings of The Royal Parks.

Esther Mahlangu said: "I am proud to present this monumental outdoor work at

Serpentine in London. The title 'Umuntu ngumuntu ngabuntu' means 'I am because you

are'. It is my wish that this painting brings much joy to those who see it in celebration

and recognition of the interconnectedness that exists between our two nations and

indeed all loving beings".

Mahlangu's works were first shown internationally in Paris at the seminal exhibition Les

Magiciens de la Terre (Magicians of the World) in Grande Halle de la Villette in 1989.

Since then, she has exhibited widely and created many site-specific murals, in addition

to ceramic pots, skateboards and trainers. In 1991, she was the first woman invited to

paint the BMW Art Car - a prestigious commission started in 1975 to create a one-of-a-

kind car design using a variety of artistic techniques. Her work is currently presented at

the 60th International Biennale di Venezia as one of the artists featured in main

presentation, titled 'Foreigners Everywhere', and curated by Adriano Pedrosa. It is on

view until 24th November 2024.

Since it launched at 1970, Serpentine has had a long-standing commitment to bringing

art put of the traditional gallery context and into the surrounding landscape, offering an

opportunity for artists to engage with the immediate environment of Kensington

Gardens.

Kusama's Pumpkin situated at the Round Pond in Kensington Gardens is the latest in a

long-standing series of remarkable public presentations in The Royal Parks since

Serpentine's foundation in 1970 which includes the recently inaugurated STRIP-

TOWER (2023) by German luminary Gerhard Richter currently situated on the outdoor

plinth at Serpentine South.

In recent years, public art has emerged as a central strand of Serpentine's programme.

Major presentations include Anish Kapoor's Turning the World Upside Down (2010),

featuring four works, including his iconic Sky Mirrors, placed in locations across the

park, Fischli/Weiss's sculpture Rock on Top of Another Rock (2013)n Betrand Lavier's

Fountain (2014): and Lee Ufan's Relatum - Stage (2018-19). In 2018, Christo and

Jeanne-Claude's monumental work The London Mastaba was installed on the

Serpentine Lake and marked their first major public artwork in the UK and the final

outdoor artwork completed in Christo's lifetime. Jakob Kudsk Steensen's augmented

reality project The Deep Listener (2019), Sofia Al Maria'fs commission Taraxos (2021),

and Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg's Pollinator Pathmaker (2022 =2023) have brought a

younger generation of artist's commissions to the park. As part if the public art

programme, Atta Kwami's mural Joy and Grace (2021-22) was presented until 30

September 2024 at Serpentine North.

Blow Up '71, the first summer show of 1971 featured a week-long outdoor exhibition of

inflatables, flying sculpture, and 'art sporst' in the Royal Parks. Further exhibitions

presented both in the park and at Serpentine include Henry Moore (1978) and Anthony

Caro (1984). Sculptures exclusively featured in the Park included Denys Short (1973),

John Hoskin (1975), Alfred Dunn (1976), Eduardo Paolozzi (1987), Ron Haselden

(1990) and Tony Smith (1996).