Burning Spear takes home portrait by local artists

Local artist Phathutshedzo Muleba surprised thousands of reggae fans with his artworks during the African Tour Music Festival, held at the Makhuvha Stadium last Thursday night. Muleba moved around the stadium holding a large portrait of the legendary reggae megastar Burning Spear.

Muleba said that when he arrived at the gates, security guards and reggae fans all offered to buy the portrait on the spot, but he refused as he wanted to use it to promote his artworks.

During an interview on Monday afternoon, Muleba said he started drawing when he was in Grade 7 at Mmbara Primary School. “I started by drawing and painting portraits of animals and people who were close to me. I then began doing portraits of politicians and national football stars in order to expand my market,” he said.

He expressed surprise when he was approached by Burning Spear's wife, who asked him not to show the portrait to Spear while he was still on stage as it might disturb him during his performance. As soon as he finished performing, Burning Spear's wife gave him her contact number and took the portrait to Burning Spear for him to see.

"He refused to hand it back and left with it. I was so happy that Burning Spear was very impressed by my work,” he said.

When asked how much he was paid for the portrait, he replied that he was so pleased that Burning Spear liked it that he had not even considered charging for it.

Date:08 November 2024

By: Victor Mukwevho

Victor Mukwevho Ne-vumbani joined the Mirror during it's inception in 1990. He joined the SABC newsroom in 1995, and was known by  listeners as "A u fhedzisela ari". He was a news editor for The Tembisan Newspaper from 2007 to 2015. He rejoined the Limpopo Mirror newspaper in June 2022 as a freelance journalist.

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