Peter Engblom " Pandora's Box" (well-known KZN Artist)

                                                                                                                                                 PANDORA'S BOX

                              Number 2 of an edition of 15, signed & dated, mounted, mount is 72.5 cms x 51.6 cms, print is 48 cms x 28.2 cms, condition: very good.

The artist, Peter Engblom, is the progeny of missionaries who established a Norwegian mission outpost in Zululand at the turnof the last century. He spent over a decade photographing traditional rituals and ceremonies in Zululand and has produced audiovisual experiences for the  KwaZulu Monuments Council, and Local History Museums in Durban. He designed the Bensusan Museum of Photography (Johannesburg) and the Portnet Visitor Centre (Durban). He also lectured in photography at thes Fine Art Department (Natal Technikon).

Engblom originated the concept of Mpunzi Shezi, the first Zulu missionary to the Japanese, who introduced Ubuntu to the Buddhists and brought Zen back to the Zulus. He describes his work as 'the Celestine Prophecy meets Mad Magazine". He is a trained sangoma.

Engblom "mashed up" Zulu, Japanese and Indian elements in his work.

In this artistic style, "mashup",  he created a parallel universe where the impossible was the norm and societys taboos and accepted ways of life became fodder for his art.His major work and legacy will probably  be " Zulu Sushi' featuring the fictional character of Mpunzi Shezi who met his first artistic muse, Naokichi Nakamura a hundred years ago and went on to become the first Zulu Guru teaching Ubuntu to the Buddhists while explaining Zen to the Zulus. 

The inked stamp on the mount is another of Engblom's fictional characters, the burlsque dancer, "Pandora van Rensburg" , daughter of Siener van Rrensburg, " Prophet of the Boers"..

                                                           Engblom died at his home in Eshowe in northern KwaZulu-Natal on September 11, 2020.