1949-1998. Austin Hleza was born in Mpuluzi, Western Swaziland. As a child, Hleza made his own toys from clay. He began his schooling at Mpuluzi and went to Bhunya for his secondary' education. Hleza completed his Junior Certificate at Mater Dolorosa in Swaziland and then trained for two years at Sedco (Small Enterprises Development Corporation). During this time, he attended art classes in the evening, studying drawing and painting. From 1973 to 1975 Hleza worked as a clerk at the post office and then briefly on a gold mine in Kinross in the Eastern Transvaal. In 1976 he returned to Swaziland and worked as an assistant manager in the Ceramics Department at Mantenga Handicraft Centre, Ezulweni. In 1982 he left Mantenga Crafts and set up his own workshop at Tishweshwe. It was in this year that he began making clay cars. In 1987 he returned to Sedco and shortly thereafter obtained a post as a lecturer at the National Handicraft Centre (formerly known as the Chinese Handicraft Centre). His work has been exhibited a number of times at die FUBA and Goodman Galleries. During 1988 he worked periodically at Barry Douglas's pottery studio in Johannesburg.

Austin Hleza

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