Thamsanqa Rutherford (Thami) Jali was born in Lamontville, Durban, in 1955. From a young age, Jali was captivated by creativity in all its forms. School craft lessons sparked his imagination, leading him to create his own toys and later, functional items like ashtrays and spoons from wood and bamboo. Moving from Lamontville to Clermont, he befriended a draughtsman’s son, which further ignited his passion for drawing. In 1976, Jali enrolled to study Law at the University of Zululand. However, his studies were interrupted by the Soweto uprising, and he officially began his Law studies the following year.

Discovering the artistic possibilities beyond law, he switched to a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in psychology and philosophy. Through art books, Jali encountered influential artists such as Kathe Kollwitz, Jacob Hendrik Pierneef, Picasso, and Irma Stern. His introduction to the Evangelical Lutheran Art and Craft Centre at Rorke’s Drift during the university’s Zululand Festival of African Arts led him to enroll there in 1981, earning a Certificate of Fine Art in 1982. He later pursued ceramics at Natal Technikon (now Durban University of Technology) but left after two years.

Thami Jali’s work has been largely inspired by Nukain Mabuza’s stone garden at Revolver Creek in Mpumalanga. Mabuza, who worked on a sugar cane farm called Esperado, painted and rearranged rocks on a hillside offered by his landlord, Guilo Fontana. In 2003, Jali began creating his own work based on Mabuza’s garden, producing the ongoing series “The Land of Never Never,” which reflects his feelings about Nukain and his work.

This series is characterized by its surrealistic nature, mirroring Mabuza’s surrealist world. The motifs on Jali’s chairs and decorated boulders draw direct inspiration from Nukain’s stone garden. His depiction of objects flying in the air is influenced by surrealism rather than Christian iconography. Jali continues to explore and expand his artistic vision, driven by the imaginative and surreal elements that have defined his journey.

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Enigma I, 2025 Acrylic on canvas 90 x 60 cm