A painting by South African artist Reggie Khumalo adds a visual voice to allegations of racism affecting Africans in Ukraine

By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTS Editor

Something stirred in me this week as it should have and must have in many others. This is when what is happening in Ukraine bad enough as it is for humanity, for global peace and for development of any kind, took a new nuanced twist of ugliness.  What is true is that the war has been bad to watch on videos and television, as one witnessed mangled metals of what used to be armored vehicles  abandoned in the streets, tall building reduced to a heap of rubble in seconds, people that had home suddenly rendered homeless,  with much fear on their faces, running away from places they once regarded as places of safety for themselves and their loved ones, livelihoods suddenly lost as workers abandoned production lines to save their lives. Fair enough. This  is really bad by any standard.

But something else in the middle of this war that a lot of us not smart enough are still trying to make sense of, happened, and that is the unfair treatment of a certain  category of refugees, specifically Africans and those from Asia fleeing for safety. We were told these were mainly students, from South Africa, Nigeria and other African countries.  To put it bluntly, they were stopped and prevented from crossing the border of Ukraine into Poland, and therefore safety. This discriminatory and unfair treatment, we were told, was reportedly carried out  by Ukrainian soldiers as they gave preference to their own, rather the ones that looked like them, we are told.

South African Ambassador to Ukraine Andre Groenwald on Tuesday confirmed in an interview with SABC TV show host Peter Ndoro ,  that  the South African  Embassy  in Ukraine had communicated their concern to the Ukrainian authorities who denied that Africans, including 32 South African students were targeted and prevented from boarding transport to cross the border to Poland. Instead, the authorities are said to have said women and children were given priority irrespective of their race and nationality.

The story will never be clear until those that have been at the hands of this  discriminatory hand at a time when they were fragile, vulnerable and helpless, tell their  own story and their experiences. We will wait until they reach safety and tell their own story before we rush to judging.

Having said that I am one person who believes that art has an important role to play in times of conflict. And this role should not always necessarily come only as a documentation of what happened, but must be proactive, engaging with the complex issues affecting humanity in real time. It is times like during the Covid-19 pandemic, and certainly during challenging times like war times, such as the events unfolding in Ukraine that art must play its role.

Artists, such as writers, painters, thespians, musicians, comedians,  poets,  sculptors and conceptual artists must not stand aside and wait for others, such as journalists to reflect on such major catastrophes, such as that happening in Ukraine where Russian and Ukrainian men and women are engaging each other militarily in this brutal war that will leave many dead or maimed, infrastructure destroyed  and humanity more vulnerable.

One artist who has prevailed and added his own visual voice to what is happening there is South African motorbike adventurer and visual artist Reggie Khumalo.

Khumalo’s untitled painting that he shared on social media platforms yesterday, March, 2, 2022, reflects clearly his thinking on what is currently going on in Ukraine. Although the painting in general is a display of the artist’s feeling g disgusted by the war itself, its meaning is more nuanced than that.

It is a critique of what the artist feels is an unfair treatment of Africans by those at war based on nothing else but on the fact that they look different, they are from Africa and they are vulnerable.

His piece that shows a white guy, with a face of despondence and hopelessness, holding on his right hand, a white face painted black,  is clearly a commentary on the fact that all humanity is the same, whether black or white, and an injury to one should be an injury to all, no matter the colour of their skin. The white guy faced painted black is in tears.

The artist is therefore questioning the absurdity of treating Africans differently from other fleeing refugees in a war situation in which both black and white civilians are equally vulnerable.

“This work is a great reflection of where l see the world right now… First of all, l don’t pray for any country, l pray for humanity. Wars should not exist, disagreements, arguments, discussions should. We are all not the same and we definitely have different ideas and ideals as it should be, but there are no ideals worth a life, or an honest child’s life for that matter. I pray for humanity.

I feel greatly for those affected by war. All the countries that continue and have been experiencing war for a while now e.g Syria, Ethiopia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Ukraine of recent, and of course, so many other countries.  But what has hit closer to home for me with the war in Ukraine has been that during such a crisis, racism still shows its ugly head..Black students are experiencing heavy discrimination as they attempt to flee for safety. How are the hurt, hurting others?. Where is the empathy?. Is this what humanity is?.

I feel deeply hurt but also reminded how a “Mental Revolution” as Africans is a must, to remember our greatness, to remember our wealth and that we ain’t poor…It is time we look within our own continent for our needs. Let’s create what we are going to seek elsewhere, right here in Africa.

I pray for unity in Africa, even more so in the world .Idealism is not dead,” the artist writes alongside the art work that he posted on social media on March, 2, 2022.