Madoda Fani

Born in 1975, Fani grew up in Gugulethu township in Cape Town and studied graphic design at Sivuyile College. To make money to further his studies, he worked as a ceramic painter in various pottery studios, resulting in his love for clay being born and slowly developing his own pieces and style. In 2000, his work was selected for the Salon Internationale de Artisanat de Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. There he met the ceramicist Simon Masilo, who introduced him to smoke-firing. In 2009, he moved to Johannesburg and began to deepen his craft, guided by Masilo, and then at the Kim Sacks School of Ceramics. He learned how to burnish clay with a stone from Jabu Nala, the daughter of legendary Zulu beer-pot maker Nesta Nala, and mastered smoke-firing techniques under the guidance of Nic Sithole. He credits these artists for helping to mould him into the artist he is today.

Although he uses traditional techniques, Fani’s curvaceous, coiled forms and hand-carved embellishments are entirely distinct. He works on a large scale, building organic-shaped vessels whose smooth surfaces are punctuated by intricate, repetitive patterns that give them a scaled, insect-like appearance. Fani joined residency programmes in Argentina (2009), France (2013), Austria (2023) and Mexico (2023). He was invited by Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (US) to teach a 2023 summer workshop and featured in Clay Formes, edited by Olivia Barrell and published by Art Formes (2023). Fani was a finalist for the 2022 LOEWE Foundation Craft Prize and received first prize at the 2016 Ceramics Southern Africa Exhibition. He worked in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina, and in the collections of the LOEWE Foundation and HRH Franz, Duke of Bavaria.