ABOUT
About Andy Mason
Andy Mason (nom de plume N.D. Mazin) is a writer/artist, editor, cartoonist, publisher and communications professional with a Masters degree in cultural and media studies and more than 30 years’ experience in South African communications, publishing and campaign work, with a strong emphasis on visual narrative strategies for public education, mainly in the NGO sector.
Read more below.
As co-founder and Creative Director of Artworks Communications (Durban, 1989-2008) and co-founder and Head of the Comic Art Unit of the Centre for Comic, Illustrative and Book Arts (CCIBA) at Stellenbosch University (2009-2015), Andy Mason has contributed extensively to the development of visual narrative, particularly comic art, as a vehicle for public participation in South Africa.
His numerous publications include academic research papers, educational comics, underground comix, illustrated training manuals, anthologies of political cartooning and graphic literature, and a major historical study of South African comic art. He has organised group exhibitions, colloquia, workshops and public events to promote comic art in South Africa and has participated in a number of international conferences and events. He is particularly interested in problems of race and representation in satirical art and has published internationally on this subject.
In 2008 he relocated from Durban to Muizenberg, Cape Town, where he co-founded the Centre for Comic, Illustrative and Book Arts (CCIBA) at Stellenbosch University and taught a course on Graphic Narrative Studies at the Stellenbosch Academy for Photography and Design. During this period he also provided media consultation services to OneWorld Sustainable Investments, the DG Murray Trust and other clients, and assisted in establishing Cape Town’s first annual comics convention, the Open Book Comics Fest, alongside other cartooning and comic art initiatives, exhibitions and publications.
He has been self-publishing underground comix since the mid-1970s. His self-published anthologies of local comics include PAX: Pre-Azanian Comix 1-6 (Durban Cartoon Project, 1985-7) and Mamba Comix 1-5 (Artworks Communications, 2003-2007), and two editions of GrafLit: Contemporary South African Comic Art (CCIBA/Mamba Media/Youngblood Foundation, 2013-4). He also co-edited (with John Curtis) two anthologies of political cartooning, Don’t Joke! (2009) and Just for Kicks! (Jacana Media, 2010).
As an academic writer Andy has produced a number of journal articles on aspects of South African cartooning and comic art, several of which have been included in international anthologies. His critical history of South African comic art, What’s So Funny? Under the Skin of South African Cartooning (Double Storey Books, Cape Town, 2010) is regarded as the most authoritative work on the subject.
In 2013 he self-published The Legend of Blue Mamba, the first volume of Azaniamania, the four-part trilogy of his collected underground comix. The second volume, Apocalypse Wow! is currently in production, and includes, inter alia, Poynton Shute’s Coronavirus Novel, Moses Avid’s Mystic Moment and The Klaarkloof Chronicles (2020-21); The Big Frag (aka Poynton’s Quest) (2018); AzaniaMania 2 (2012); The Big Chillum (1985-7); Vittoke in Azania (1987-8), and Cogent and Crint in The Quest for a Moral Aesthetic (1975-6).
As a curator, Andy has co-curated a number of comic art exhibitions and events, including Co/Mix: Comic Art/Mixed Media (National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, 2011), Co/Mix @ Open Book Literary Festival (Cape Town 2012), and the Open Book Comics Festival (Cape Town, 2013). In 2013 he launched the GrafLit project, a CCIBA project in association with the Youngblood Art Foundation and Mamba Media, assisted by Su Opperman, Roberto Millan, Jean de Wet and Keda Gomes. This intervention has resulted in the publication of two editions of the GrafLit anthology of contemporary South African comic art combined with group exhibitions (Youngblood Gallery, Cape Town, 2013-14) showcasing a new generation of artists working at the interface of cartooning and fine art. These were followed by two group exhibitions, Graphic Radicals at the Cutting Edge of Comic Art at the Alive Café in Muizenberg (2014) and Speechless: South African Comic Artists on the State of the Nation at the Erdmann Contemporary Gallery, Cape Town (2015), both co-curated with Su Opperman, followed by a series of community art exhibitions in Muizenberg in 2017 and 2018.
Andy currently runs a virtual studio project in Cape Town, the Azania Mania Art Kolektiv (AMAK), which provides opportunities for talented young artists and designers to provide specialist services to clients in the civil society, public and private sectors. Since 2012, he has also provided a conference cartooning service for conferences, workshops and scenario exercises, and in 2015 began running ToonZA cartooning workshops for young people of all ages who can’t stop drawing. His latest initiative, ToonStorming, seeks to develop cartoon-based workshop strategies for solving organizational problems and generating new ideas.
2004 MA (summa cum laude) (Cultural and Media Studies) University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban
1979 BA (Hons) (cum laude) (English) University of Natal, Durban
2014-2021 Sole proprietor, Azania Mania Art Kolektiv (AMAK), Cape Town
2010-2021 Freelance artist, cartoonist, writer, editor, book designer, publisher, curator and communications consultant, Cape Town
2009-2015 Co-founder and Head of the Comic Art Unit, Centre for Comic Art, Illustration and Book Art (CCIBA), University of Stellenbosch
2011-2013 Lead: Publishing, OneWorld Sustainable Investments, Cape Town
2008-2010 Part-time lecturer in drawing and visual narrative, Stellenbosch Academy of Photography and Design
1989-2007 Co-owner and Creative Director, Artworks Communications (Computer Artwork Services CC), Durban
1987-1989 Sole Proprietor, Tegwen Publications, Durban
1985-1987 Managing Editor, Legal and Academic Textbooks, Butterworth Publishers, Durban
1983-1985 Publication Manager, Indicator Project South Africa, University of Natal, Durban
1982-1983 Assistant Editor, Upbeat magazine, Sached Trust, Johannesburg
1980-1982 Co-owner/Creative Director, The Graphic Equalizer Pre-print Studio, Johannesburg
1979-1980 Trainee Editor and Production Coordinator, Ravan Press, Johannesburg
1978-1979 Graduate Assistant, English Department, University of Natal, Durban.
2002-2015 Editorial Board Member, International Journal of Comic Art (IJOCA)
2008-2015 Board Member and Head of Comic Art Unit, Centre for Comic Illustrative and Book Arts (CCIBA)
2015 Collaborative Africa Budget Reform Initiative (CABRI), Johannesburg
2014 Innovation Edge, Cape Town
2014 Muizenberg Festival, Cape Town
2014 Standard Bank Africa Indaba, Johannesburg
2014 ICLEI: Local Governments for Sustainability, Cape Town
2013-2014 Sustainable Energy Africa (SEA), Cape Town
2013-2014 Ilifa Labantwana, DG Murray Trust, Cape Town
2013 Standard Bank PBB Indaba, Johannesburg
2012 African Grantmakers Network (AGN) Assembly, Johannesburg
2020 Writer/cartoonist: Poynton Shute’s Coronavirus Novel. Serialised comic strip about the Coronavirus pandemic. Daily Maverick, Cape Town.
2020 Illustrator/art director/co-writer: Covid-19 Orientation Guide For Schools: A Guide For Teachers, Non-Teaching Staff And Learners. SA Department of Basic Education in collaboration with the National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT). Produced by YPress, Cape Town.
2020 Illustrator/art director/co-writer: Psychosocial Support – A Model for South African Schools. SA Department of Basic Education, in collaboration with the National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT). Produced by YPress, Cape Town.
2018 Writer/cartoonist: Day Zero. Serialised comic strip about Cape Town’s water crisis. Daily Maverick, Cape Town.
2018 Writer/managing editor: A Guide to the Western Cape Biodiversity Spatial Plan Handbook 2017. Living Lands, Cape Town, in association with SANBI and CapeNature, Cape Town.
2018 Author (with Su Opperman): ‘South African Cartooning in the Post-Apartheid Era’, in Taking African Cartoons Seriously: Politics, Satire, and Culture, edited by Peter Limb and Tejumola Olaniyan. Michigan State University Press.
2017 Editor/contributor: Aluta Cartoonua: The Official Organ of the ToonZA Movement. ToonZA/AMAK, Cape Town.
2016 Writer/cartoonist: Poynton’s Quest. PreZanian Comix, Cape Town.
2016 Editor/art director/co-publisher: 360 Degrees Trilogy: Book One: The Initiation, an autobiographical graphic novel by Mogorosi Motshumi. Published by X-Libris/CCIBA/AMAK, Cape Town.
2016 Writer/art director/illustrator: Democracy and You (Revised edition). Democracy Development Program (DDP), Durban.
2016 Writer/editor/art director/illustrator: Vision 2030: Imagine Our Best Future: Visualising the National Development Plan (NDP). Democracy Development Program (DDP), Durban.
2015 Illustrator, Street Law South Africa, 3rd Edition, Juta and Co. Ltd., Cape Town.
2015 Managing editor/illustrator: Becoming an Early Learning Facilitator: Learner Guide and Handbook. SmartStart Early Learning NPC, Cape Town.
2014 Writer/editor/illustrator: Civil Society and Local Government: A guide for civil society organisations. Democracy Development Programme (DDP). Durban.
2014 Co-editor/contributor/publisher: GRAFLIT: Urban Interiors. CCIBA/Mamba Media/Youngblood Art Foundation, Cape Town.
2014 Author: ‘The Presidential Penis: Issues of Race and Representation in South African Political Cartooning and Satirical Art’. Representing Multiculturalism in Comics and Graphic Novels. Routledge. London.
2013 Co-editor/contributor/publisher: GrafLit: Graveyard Literature in Black & White. CCIBA/Youngblood Art Foundation. Cape Town.
2013 Author/illustrator/publisher: The Legend of Blue Mamba. PreZanian Comix. Cape Town.
2012 Writer/co-illustrator: Civil Society at the Crossroads. CDRA in association with INTRAC/PRIA. Cape Town.
2012 Managing Editor/co-writer: Women Adapt to Climate Change. OneWorld Sustainable Investments for the SA Department of International Relations and Cooperation. Cape Town.
2011 Author: ‘The Cannibal Ogre and the Rape of Justice: A Contrapuntal View’. Critical African Studies, Issue 4, December 2010 1 ISBN 2040-7211. Edinburgh.
2010 Author: What’s So Funny? Under the Skin of South African Cartooning. Double Storey Books. Cape Town.
2010 Co-editor: Just For Kicks! The Year in Cartoons. Jacana Media in association with CCIBA/Africartoons.com. Cape Town.
2009 Co-editor: Don’t Joke! The Year in Cartoons. Jacana Media in association with CCIBA/Africartoons.com. Cape Town.
2009 Editor/illustrator: The Barefoot Guide to Organisations and Social Change. Community Development Resource Association (CDRA). Cape Town.
2009 Co-writer/co-illustrator: The Vuka Family Project Community Workbook. HSRC/CHAMPSA. Durban.
2008 Consultant editor: Zapiro: The Mandela Files. Double Storey Books. Cape Town.
2007 Writer/cartoonist: The Artist’s Life: Selections from the Sketchbook Journals & Other Random Pages by N.D.Mazin & Pooh 2005-2007. Artworks Communications, Durban.
2003-7 Editor/publisher/contributor: Mamba Comix 1-5. Durban Cartoon Project (DCP)/Artworks Communications. Durban.
2006 Co-author: ‘Mediating Social Representations Using a Cartoon Narrative in the Context of HIV/AIDS: The AmaQhawe Family Project in South Africa’. Journal of Health Psychology, Vol 11. No. 2, March 2006.
2004 Author: ‘Ten Years After: South African cartooning and the politics of liberation”. In Lent, J. (ed), Cartooning in Africa, Hampton Press. USA.
2002-3 Co-writer/co-illustrator: The AmaQhawe Family Project: Community Workbook, HSRC/CHAMPSA. Durban.
2002 Editor/illustrator: Sex and Risk, Community Mental Health Program, University of Durban-Westville. Durban.
2003 Author: ‘Black & White in Ink: Discourses of Resistance in South African Cartooning’ in Media, Identity and the Public Sphere in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Brill. Leiden/Boston.
1999-2002 Editor/publisher: Study SA: The Guide to South African Universities and Technikons, Artworks Communications/International Education Association of SA (IEASA). Durban.
1995-2002 Editor/publisher: Sex News (Sexual Health for South African Teenagers), Artworks Communications in association with DramAidE/Aticc Pietermaritzburg/Medical Research Council/KZN Cabinet Aids Initiative/KZN Department of Health. Durban.
1992-1994 Editor/publisher: Realtime Magazine, Natal Youth Publishing Project/Artworks Communications. Durban.
1985-7 Editor/publisher/contributor: PAX: Pre-Azanian Comix 1-6. Durban Comix Circle.
1991 Managing editor/cartoonist: Human Rights For All: Education towards a rights culture. Lawyers for Human Rights/David Phillip Publishers. Cape Town.
1987-91 Managing editor/cartoonist: Street Law: Practical Law For South African Students, Books 1-5. Association of Law Societies of SA/Juta & Co. Cape Town.
1981 Co-writer/cartoonist: Vusi Goes back: A Comic about the History of South Africa in People’s Workbook, Environmental & Development Agency (EDA). Johannesburg.
1978-9 Writer/cartoonist: Vittoke in Azania. Dome (University of Natal student newspaper)/Varsity (UCT student newspaper). Durban/Cape Town.
Andy has also co-curated a number of comic art exhibitions and events, including:
2011 Co/Mix: Comic Art/Mixed Media (National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, 2011), a major exhibition of contemporary SA comic art featuring 25 local and international
artists (with Pete and Elaine Woodbridge and Lieve Vanleeuw)
2012 Co/Mix @ Open Book Literary Festival (Cape Town)
2013 Open Book Comics Festival (Cape Town)
2013-4 The GrafLit project (Youngblood Gallery, Cape Town, 2013-4), a CCIBA project in association with the Youngblood Art Foundation and Mamba Media, which resulted in the publication of two editions of the GrafLit anthology of contemporary South African comic art combined with group exhibitions showcasing a new generation of artists working at the interface of cartooning and fine art.
2014 Graphic Radicals at the Cutting Edge of Comic Art, (Alive Café, Muizenberg), a group show co-curated with Su Opperman
2015 Speechless: South African Comic Artists on the State of the Nation (Erdmann Contemporary Gallery, Cape Town), a group show co-curated with Su Opperman
2017 Reversible Journeys (The Hive Community Art Space, Muizenberg), a group show co-curated with Robyn-Jade Hosking
2018 Unfinished Stories (The Hive Community Art Space, Muizenberg), a group show co-curated with Robyn-Jade Hosking
2009 Joint World Record Certificate (World Record Academy): 103 Surfers on a Single Wave, Muizenberg, Cape Town.