The land issue.
Looking beyond asset value.
By Nyadzombe Nyampenza
Traditionally land is not a mere commodity for Zimbabweans. Land is community, cultural identity, and ancestral spirits. Webster Mubarirenyis’ landscape paintings recall the deep connection between people and land.
The award winning artist paints in an expressionist style with bold lines and dark contours. His vibrant non-representational colors and shapes arouse emotional responses through abstraction. Simple forms such as trees, rocks and water are painted in lyrical colors.
In the painting The Plots for Sale, Rusape there are no wild animals or livestock. The only hint at the existence of humans is the intrusion of a barbed wire fence. The barrier demarcates the land and keeps out the observer. Although there is no sign of activity, the commodifying title suggests it will not be for long. Soon it will be an object for transaction and extraction.
Change of Seasons has uninhibited access. The eye wanders freely into the scene without obstruction. There are no living creatures or man-made structures. Nature is depicted in an immersive evolving state. The land is peaceful. Without man there is no conflict. But the title has an ominous ring to it. Man's need to own and control land might bring a different kind of change.
In Mubayirenyis’ painting land is the sole focus of attention. The eye develops intimacy with the landscape. Nature sings in color and tugs at the heartstrings.
