Wednesday, January 13, 2016

TRIBUTE TO FLAXMAN QOOPANE!




By MATSHIDISO TALENG (photos, below)



It’s been eons since I've known Mr Flaxman Qoopane, I stay just a few blocks away from his house. Growing up myself and the other kids used to refer to him as "The Daily Sun Man" you'd always see him walking around with a camera around his neck, sometimes you'd see him standing by the corner writing something in his little note book. Being naughty as we were with the other kids we'd run to his house every time there was a fight in our street, in most cases we wouldn't find him. There was this one time when two elderly women were fighting each other in our street, we ran to Mr Qoopane's house to give him the story and asked him to put it on the front page of Daily Sun, Mr Qoopane would just smile and tell us he will write about it, then he gave us sweets and told us to stay in school.

As I grew older and started being active in the literary world, I got invited to a writers workshop that was held at the Literature Museum here in Bloemfontein , when I arrived at the workshop.. There he was.. "The Daily Sun Man" he was giving a speech about his journey in writing and also his experience while he was in Tanzania during the times of the struggle, he shared both the good and the bad experiences he had that side, then showed us a couple of photos too. Later on he read us one of his poems that he had wrote those many years ago, that's when I realised that he wasn't just "The Daily Sun Man" but a man of honor, dignity and a brilliant literary activist who is passionate about his work.

I got a bit embarrassed when I remembered that I used to call him "The Daily Sun Man" and wished he'd not remember that and tell people how my friends and I used to yell "The Daily Sun Man" every time he  passed by the street. Unfortunately for me he remembered so vividly, he saw me in the crowed and smiled then said "Oh Nana you're here too? Tell them that you live just a few blocks away from my house and tell them how you and your friends used to laugh and make noise when I pass, thinking that I'm crazy always writing something in my book, you thought I was crazy neh? But you see now I'm not crazy?"
He laughed and hugged me then said "well at least now we're all crazy" then we all laughed. He taught us some voice exercises and then said to me "you have a very soft voice I can hardly hear you, back in our days there were no mic's.. We had to shout in order to be heard so I wonder if you were to perform in a big venue full of people and there are no mic's then what will you, please continue practicing these voice exercise at home, they'll help your voice to be a bit louder"

At the Vuka Poetry festival that was held at PACOFS in 2008, Mr Qoopane graced the stage with one of his exquisite poems embracing women, his stage presence was magnificent and the poem was very profound and heartfelt, you could see the dedication in his eyes and the adrenaline of the love he had for his art, I was inspired. The mic's were working just fine but he chose not to use one and everyone in there could hear him clearly, I saw that the voice exercises really works. Days later after the event, Mr Qoopane gave me photos that he took during workshops that were held there before the event.

During the 2010 Fifa World Cup Finals, Mr Qoopane invited me to his Literary Gallery as he would be showing foreign tourists all his research about artists all around the country, I was amazed to see such splendid work, inside the Gallery there was even a little space where he put books for little kids to come read and probably do their homework, like a library type of thing. I remember him telling his guests that he's dreaming of expanding the Gallery one day because there was not enough space.



When I published my own book, SECRETS, Mr Qoopane came to my home one day and said to my mother "do you know how brilliant your daughter is? I've even seen her perform several times and now she has published a book at such a very young age, you must be proud of her" then turned to look at me and said "Baby girl, I'm also very proud of you, not many kids of your age take literature as serious as you do, you're going to go far with this, keep it up and don't forget where you come from, most importantly don't forget your mother, a mother is someone very important in every person's life" he then gave me a hug and shook my Mother's hand, as we walked him out he saw a couple of people he knew passing by the street, he called them to come closer and told them that I have published a book, he's excitement was unbelievable.

This one time we were in a taxi, but I was on the third seat behind him, he was sitting with this other lady and I heard him introduce himself to this lovely lady and started a small talk with her, he shared with this lady his stories of while he was at Tanzania and told her about his writing, the lady was quiet impressed, he even showed her the photos that he showed us that day at the workshop.. I realized that he carries these photos everywhere he goes, then as he turned to check how many people were still short to fill the taxi he saw me, he was like "this is my child right there, baby girl.. Tell her, tell this lady how you know me and tell her about your book". He didn't even give me a chance to talk to that lady, he then said to her "this girl is a very good writer, her work is impressive" I smiled to myself and thought.. you know, anyone who doesn't know Mr Qoopane would swear that he's not in the right state of mind but he's actually someone who's passionate about what he does, he believes in other people as well and he's generous enough to share his knowledge with the world and that's what makes him unique and special.

At the MACUFE talk shop in 2015, Mr Qoopane came with his banners that he has made himself to advertise them to us, some people in there were bored and a bit angry as to they saw him as "gate crashing" the talk shop and "hijacking" Ms Lebo Mashile's platform, not being aware that Ms Lebo didn't mind at all. Mr Qoopane is a go getter and won't stop at anything till he gets what he wants or gets his message across and still be humble about it.

Speaking of humility, I remember when we were having a braai after a book launch of three flamboyant writers, each of them launching their book at the Fichardpark Library, so after that we were sitting and chatting with them over a braai, Mr Ice Bound Makhele was there also as well as Mr Magic Kgotseng, so Mr Qoopane said to me "have you noticed how humble these guys are?" Referring to the gentlemen who just launched their books, I asked him to indulge more on his statement, he said "even after they've achieved so much in life they are still humble, including you, anyone who don't know you guys would say I'm lying if I tell them that you are published authors" I was really humbled by that compliment and for a big achiever as him I'd say he's also humble, he doesn't have ego or arrogance and he didn't take that day and made it about him.

Now with that being said… Let's raise a toast to this exhilarating and joyful Man. Happy 60th birthday Ntate Flaxman, enjoy the benefits that comes with this age which is not being criticized for being sloppy or careless and forgetful.. Cheers...