BMW's latest Ndebele art car comes home

By Martin Pretorius

With August being Woman's Month in South Africa, it's perhaps fitting for us to pay tribute to a local woman whose art has represented our country to great effect. Her medium was unusual, but she used her platform to open our cultural diversity to the world, and in the process gained international fame. But before we get to the story of Esther Mahlangu, let's have a look at the history of an most unusual art project.

It all began in 1975, when Hervé Poulain, a French racing driver, commissioned American artist Alexander Calder to paint a BMW race car in unique livery. Thus was the BMW Art Car project born. Since then, luminaries from the world of art added their touches to both racing- and road going BMWs, with contributors including Andy Warhol, Frank Stella and Ernst Fuchs. But it took a whole 16 years for this project to really impact South Africa, when a South African Ndebele artist from Mpumalanga was asked to apply her special talent to an E34 525i. The result was a splendid combination of traditional Ndebele art and modern technology, and its success opened the doors for Esther Mahlangu to take her talent across the globe.

But, more than only being the first South African-created BMW Art Car, it was also the first opportunity for a female artist to take part in the project. Esther's 525i received an enthusiastic welcome all round, and still tours the art exhibition circuit, 26 years after it was first unveiled – most recently at the British Museum in London. More than this, it's also enabled Esther to expand her repertoire, with her Ndebele-themed artwork adorning objects as diverse as British Airways aeroplanes and Belvedere vodka bottles, and led to Esther directing a school which teaches young girls about the intricacies of Ndebele art and bead work.

And so, 25 years after creating her first BMW Art Car, Esther was asked to decorate a new BMW 750Li Individual, which was first exhibited at 2016's Frieze Art Fair in London. A deal for this commissioning was struck with Esther and her agent, so she got to work on her latest masterpiece – one cannot expect any artist to work for free, see? Special interior trim panels were developed by BMW's engineers to provide a white base for Esther's work – a similar colour and texture upon which Ndebele house painting is based.

Esther immediately knew what she wanted to do. "The patterns I have used on the BMW panels marry tradition to the essence of BMW. When BMW sent me the panels to paint, I could see the design in my head and I just wanted to get started! I started by painting the small ones first to get the feel of the surface and then it was easy as the design follows the lines of the panels," she says.

Now, following the overseas exhibition of this car, it's come back home to African soil. Taking up residence in BMW SA's Heritage Collection, it will be used as a display vehicle at various arts- and cultural events, bringing Esther's heritage to people across the country. If ever a BMW was truly worthy of its “Individual” nametag, this one surely ranks right at the top. It's a tribute to many things: our country's cultural diversity, BMW's commitment to local arts development, and most of all, to the power of women in shaping the future while acknowledging the past. In Esther's own words: “I am so glad that BMW brought my art back to South Africa. It is a beautiful car to be shared with the people of South Africa for many years to come.”