Men from KwaZulu-Natal are sometimes referred to as a Banana Boys. The flora that is most often seen and commonly mistaken for bananas is in fact the Strelitzia Nicolai plant. However the name, Strelitzia Boy, would not have the impact that Banana Boy has, as it does not have the connection with our local rugby team nor does it suggest virility in the way a banana does.
Name changes are big part of our national debate. The change by our local rugby team from Banana Boys to Sharks has been one that moves from that of virility and potency to one that suggests predatory aggression and perhaps that is what was required. Some of our national teams changed their name and emblem from Springboks to Proteas. That seems to me to have taken the balls out of the buck and replaced the spring with a pirouette. This, I imagine, is good for the women’s teams even if the protea along with the strelitzia are the dykes of the flower world. Perhaps it is all part of a gender equality programme but it is not exactly the kind of name that will drive fear into the heart of an opponent on a rugby field unless you are allergic to pollen or fear being hit with a posy.
Names in art are important as the title of a work is a key to unlocking the meaning or meanings contained therein. It can provide a perspective and directs one’s understanding of the work. It is a point of departure from which the work of art will either build on or deconstruct its significance. It is also one of my weaknesses. Perhaps I am too close to and caught up with the making of the sculpture as all too often I neglect spending enough time thinking about and titling my work appropriately. In haste I sometimes give a working title that is poorly thought out and then occasionally, to my dismay, the title sticks.
The title ‘Banana Boy’ has been more carefully thought out. Perhaps this is because I have been working on it since we returned from our holiday in Australia a year ago and so I have had the time to think about it. The name is appropriate in part because the work is made from Strelitzia leaves, but also because I have become a Banana Boy. The title suggests that the subject is about a person living in KwaZulu-Natal and hints at the virility of this person. However the tripped/balanced composition of the figure and the boat itself suggest that there are some anxieties about living in and or leaving this place. It also puts the virility of the man in doubt.
Fortunately for sculptures that have been poorly titled their names sometimes have a life of their own. Buyers of work sometimes impose their own names, whilst galleries have changed titles as they think it will improve sales and even artists rename their works. An example of an artwork that has had its title changed is the ‘Night Watch’ by Rembrandt. It was first called ‘The Company of Frans Banning Cocq and Willem van Ruytenburch’ and no matter how instructive and informative the original title was, it is a bit of a mouthful.
I have not always been a Banana Boy as I have lived in many places. Before I moved to Durban, I was a Boet, or should that be a Swaer, from the Eastern Cape. Since I was born in England I may at one time be considered a Soutie, Limey or Pommy but I realised that was false when I sat next to a black man on the Tube in London who spoke with a Cockney accent. It was then that I understood that he was English and despite my pale complexion I was African.
I think that along the way I have learnt something about the fluctuating nature of identity especially as prior to an adoption by my third father, Mr Roberts, I was a Rautenbach. By the same token I am aware “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Whilst there is an inherent quality to the “rose” it is often the title that can make us think about associations and inferences that make for a richer comprehension.
I like being a Banana Boy. It lacks the rustic Arcadianness of the swaer from the Eastern Cape and the gender neutrality of a strelitzia but for a man of my age it has, what is needed, the insinuation of virility.
