The harvest of thorns.
A lamentation.
By Nyadzombe Nyampenza
Shona folk songs frequently use a variant of the expression ‘kubaiwa’. The term hearkens to pre-colonial times when a violent, unnatural way to die was by the spear. It became a metaphor for pain and suffering. Sculptor Gideon Gomo’s work titled Ndabaiwa amplifies the symbolism into a three-dimensional object.
‘‘Ndabaiwa’’ is a lamentation in first person voice, from one who has been stabbed. Gomo’s use of the term makes the work confessional. The multimedia piece is made up of a disembodied head carrying a dengu (vessel). It is the kind of vessel that would be used to carry a harvest. In Gideon’s sculpture the container is empty. Moreover, the vessel has been impaled by a swarm of sharp objects. There is no harm on the person. Only the load has been hit. Menacing sharp spikes dangerously protrude inside the receptacle. It is a double tragedy that there is no harvest, and the vessel is damaged and abused.
Ndabaiwa is a self-portrait. The work is an agonized appeal for relief. Gomo unabashedly sets aside pride and false sense of masculinity. As the traditional saying goes, ‘’ A child who does not cry will die on its mother’s back.’’
