Frédéric Zimer, the partner in this project, was a building construction engineer, working for 20 years in the Telecoms sector in France. He fell in love with Africa thanks to his participation in major projects in French-speaking Africa and his travels to more than 20 African countries. His African art collection has focused on headrests from KwaZulu-Natal, Eswatini, Nigeria (Calabar) and Ethiopia. His deep interest in these forms is predicated on the fact that for him these objects of daily life best represent the cultural richness of the regions and peoples of Africa.
Karel Nel studied Fine Art at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, St Martin’s School of Art, London and the University of California, Berkeley. Until 2017, Nel was Associate Professor at the School of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand. In 2018, he took up the post of Senior Adjunct Curator at the newly opened Norval Foundation in Cape Town. Here he curated three major retrospective exhibitions of the work of Sydney Kumalo, Ezrom Legae and Eduardo Villa, accompanied by a scholarly catalogue, produced by Elizabeth Burroughs and Nel himself, with other contributions. Nel has edited and contributed to a number of publications dealing with African Art.
Nessa Leibhammer graduated with a degree in Fine Art and an MA in Precolonial studies from the University of the Witwatersrand. She is currently an independent consultant who writes, researches, edits, publishes and curates. Her specialist area is the traditionalist material culture of southern Africa. For 12 years she was the curator of southern African art at the Johannesburg Art Gallery and in 2012 was an invited Research Fellow of the African Studies Research Centre at Cambridge University, UK. She is currently a research associate of the Archive and Public Culture Research Initiative at the University of Cape Town involved in the multi-disciplinary study of African heritage and material culture.
Clive Newman completed a BA degree at Natal University and entered the Anglican Church as a priest in 2007. He was well known for his compassionate work in prisons, old age homes and hospitals. From an early age he showed an interest in diverse social, cultural and spiritual histories. African art, however, was his great passion – in particular the headrests of the KwaZulu-Natal region. Working together with Mavis Duma, he assembled a remarkable collection that was accompanied by detailed information and photographs.
Mavis Duma grew up in Emachunwini, the area of Msinga in KwaZulu-Natal under Chief Mchunu of the Mchunu clan. While growing up she was immersed in two worlds as her father’s side of the family were Christians (AmaKholwa), while her mother’s side believed in the ancestors (AmaBhica). Having met Clive Newman in Durban, Duma expressed her love and passion for the Zulu culture of the region. They worked together for almost 20 years, collecting a broad range of objects, especially headrests.
Bruce Goodall is a collector, researcher, and dealer in southern African art, and the initiator of this project. He studied Social Anthropology at the University of Cape Town, but it was only 25 years later that his interest in the cultures of Africa was finally combined with his penchant for collecting. In 2003, on a road trip to Namibia and Angola with his wife Jeanne, he purchased his first headrests. Since then he has been a dedicated African art collector with a specific focus on headrests and research-intensive field collecting. In 2017 he purchased the late Clive Newman’s collection.
Frédéric Zimer, the partner in this project, was a building construction engineer, working for 20 years in the Telecoms sector in France. He fell in love with Africa thanks to his participation in major projects in French-speaking Africa and his travels to more than 20 African countries. His African art collection has focused on headrests from KwaZulu-Natal, Eswatini, Nigeria (Calabar) and Ethiopia. His deep interest in these formsis predicated on the fact that for him these objects of daily life best represent the cultural richness of the regions and peoples of Africa.
Karel Nel studied Fine Art at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, St Martin’s School of Art, London and the University of California, Berkeley. Until 2017, Nel was Associate Professor at the School of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand. In 2018, he took up the post of Senior Adjunct Curator at the newly opened Norval Foundation in Cape Town. Here he curated three major retrospective exhibitions of the work of Sydney Kumalo, Ezrom Legae and Eduardo Villa, accompanied by a scholarly catalogue, produced by Elizabeth Burroughs and Nel himself, with other contributions. Nel has edited and contributed to a number of publications dealing with African Art.
Nessa Leibhammer graduated with a degree in Fine Art and an MA in Precolonial studies from the University of the Witwatersrand. She is currently an independent consultant who writes, researches, edits, publishes and curates. Her specialist area is the traditionalist material culture of southern Africa. For 12 years she was the curator of southern African art at the Johannesburg Art Gallery and in 2012 was an invited Research Fellow of the African Studies Research Centre at Cambridge University, UK. She is currently a research associate of the Archive and Public Culture Research Initiative at the University of Cape Town involved in the multi-disciplinary study of African heritage and material culture.
Clive Newman completed a BA degree at Natal University and entered the Anglican Church as a priest in 2007. He was well known for his compassionate work in prisons, old age homes and hospitals. From an early age he showed an interest in diverse social, cultural and spiritual histories. African art, however, was his great passion – in particular the headrests of the KwaZulu-Natal region. Working together with Mavis Duma, he assembled a remarkable collection that was accompanied by detailed information and photographs.
Mavis Duma grew up in Emachunwini, the area of Msinga in KwaZulu-Natal under Chief Mchunu of the Mchunu clan. While growing up she was immersed in two worlds as her father’s side of the family were Christians (AmaKholwa), while her mother’s side believed in the ancestors (AmaBhica). Having met Clive Newman in Durban, Duma expressed her love and passion for the Zulu culture of the region. They worked together for almost 20 years, collecting a broad range of objects, especially headrests.
