Family legacy revived in Alex
A granddaughter of the Kula Marolen Foundation has taken it upon herself to revive the legacy of one of the most famous and successful business-inclined families in the township.
The granddaughter of one of the most famous and successful business couples of yesteryear in Alexandra has started a project to honour the legacy of the Marolen family by turning what was once a garage into an underground art house on 8th Avenue.
Mary-Ann Marolen-Ramugumo, one of the granddaughters of the Marolens, who’s also from the Kula Marolen Foundation says she would like to create a thriving world-class Kula Art Experiential Space that is rivaled by none in the township.
“The lifestyle space is currently undergoing renovations with ideas of turning it into an information hub that will tell stories of where I come from as part of the Kula Marolen family clan and will be designed to celebrate the vision that the Almighty God and my ancestors bestowed on me.
“I have a vision of turning the house into a space in future where I will tell stories of where I come from as a granddaughter of the Kula Marolen clan and also tell stories of African excellence. It will have a mixture of an art gallery, museum, and library of our family heirlooms,” said Marolen-Ramugumo.
The Kula Art Experiential Space recently hosted an art auction whose purpose was to kick-start the project and it roped in the Maboneng Alex Art Experience and sold some of the artistic work of Siphiwe Ngwenya which was themed Sundela Artwork – derived from the Sun people and Mandela – hence the name Sundela.
The Kula Art Experiential Space is about the forgotten Alex lifestyle and to keep spaces for storytelling on the rich heritage of the township, history, plays, poetry and culture. “We are about vintage and incorporating new and something not done before in the art space,” said Marolen-Ramugumo.
The art space managed to introduce the auction guests, which included American tourists who bought some of the artwork, to the local lifestyle, art, music as well as the history of the Marolen family kept spaces, Marolen-Ramugumo said.
The auction was conducted by well-known Alex arts creative Refilwe ‘Fifi’ Pieterse, who was so delighted to have hosted her first auction and managed to sell art pieces to some American tourists.
Kula house solely relies on sponsorships, donations, research funding and fundraising to keep it in motion and is open for hire.
Details: Mary-Ann Marolen-Ramugumo 083 575 6455; @tmarolen@gmail.com; kulamarolenfoundation@gmail.com
