Online Exhibitions

“God Bless Africa” is, in many ways, the starting point of the “African Queens: Restoring History” series.

The painting is painted in a style that I jokingly refer to as “Vintage Tattoo Art Meets the Renaissance”. The background has been painted to resemble ancient parchment, to create a sense of age and historical agency, while the newer style of Tattoo Art allows for the compilation of diverse symbolism in an unusual composition. This tension between Ancient and Modern is one of the thematic premises of the artwork. The other being the tension between Africa and her bountiful riches of history and civilization, and the pillaging and entitled mindset of Europe towards it.

Africa holds the honorary title as The Cradle of Civilisation. It is the cradle from where our species began and then spread to discover the planet. It is also believed that the development of mathematics and writing systems first took place in Africa. Dr. Clyde Winters, author of “The Ancient Black Civilizations of Asia”, wrote that before the rise of the Egyptians or Sumerians, there was a wonderful civilization in the fertile African Sahara, where people developed perhaps the world’s oldest known form of writing. The rock engraving discovered at the Oued Mertoutek, Algeria, is an example of this Proto-Saharan writing, which dates back to 5000 – 3000 B.C.

The T-shaped format and references of Angel Wings, Sword (of Truth) and Sacred Heart alludes to the Catholic influence brought into Africa by European explorers and colonisers. In contrast, the banner below the heart depicts Proto-Saharan writing that pre-dates any forms of writing that originated in Europe. The great history of Africa, as the birthplace of modern humans, is also alluded to by the skull that is placed within the shape of the Africa, the shapes echo-ing each other.

In the top left corner is a dis-embodied hand, a Victorian construct, with a red ribbon tied around a finger. There was a time in Western culture when it was common to tell people to “tie a string around your finger,” as a reminder of something. Since that would be easily noticed, and seen, it would keep whatever was to be remembered at the front of the person’s mind. This construct references the reminder of the importance of Africa and its contributions to the world, separate to what has been imposed on the continent by others. At the top right of the painting, a second hand is dangling a Lover’s Eye Miniature, a painted miniature of an eye set in a locket. Queen Victoria famously used eye miniatures as presentation pieces, and these miniatures became popular between lovers. The eye is the intimate window to the soul, while at the same time concealing the identity of the beloved. In the context of “God Bless Africa”, the Victorian hand is revealing the covetous eye of Europe beholding the bounty of Africa.

“God Bless Africa” may be seen as an indictment of European colonialism, but also a celebration of our African continent and its people.

R 60 000