Art, sex and magic II.
Serenading the snake.
By Nyadzombe Nyampenza
A popular Zimbabwean story is the tale of a witch, her son, and an innocent girl. Artist Kufa Makwarara paints a climactic scene before the gruesome ending.
The title of the painting is Marimuka which in chiShona can refer to any unspecified location to which people go to find employment. The painting depicts a girl whose body is only covered with ornaments. She kneels at a grinding stone. Her head is turned toward a huge snake that is coming at her. Around the serpent things break up in explosive disarray. The young woman stares at the impending catastrophe with shock and fear.
In the story a powerful witch enganges a young woman to her son. The son has allegedly gone to marimuka and would return after five years. In truth her son is a giant snake that she reared from a baby. She keeps it hidden in the granary. The terrible secret is exposed after the girl sings a beautiful song lamenting her distant lover, as she ground some millet. Upon hearing the song, the snake is filled with longing and busts out of the granary. Kufa captures the drama as the snake sings back and goes after the girl.
At the end of story the girl’s brave and decisive actions lead to a community intervention. Her captors are punished. She becomes free to live her life. Makwarara’s work is a reminder of the girl’s crucial waking moment.
