Adrift on the bliss of memory.
Against historical complacency.
By Nyadzombe Nyampenza
Memories can be lost due to the passage of time, change of circumstances, or after a traumatic accident. Some people have selective amnesia that erases personal guilt, and hides their pain. Blessing Chinyanga’s Forgotten presents a case for sustained collective memory.
The work combines a frame and ribbons of fabric in different colors. The material is weaved around and across the frame. Hacked pieces of bone are interlocked in a dense crosshatch. A spurned title suggests resignation, and silent protest. The engrossing piece converts a bleak outlook to positive outcome.
Traditionally bones are seen as carriers of primordial information. They are used for devinations. In the history of Zimbabwe, the spirit medium Nehanda Nyakasikana prophesied that her bones will rise. Her words were fulfilled by the uprising of the Second Chimurenga. Men and women rose as if prompted by a call in their bone marrow, and gallantly fought against colonial rule.
Chinyanga’s work takes a purposeful and militant stance against historical complacency. As a trigger for memory it counters suppression of knowledge, and inspires recollection. A permanent state of awareness is created by anchoring the resurrected past into the present.
