Watch the Crown.
A riddle set in concrete.
By Nyadzombe Nyampenza
The crown may represent honor, victory, or power. Artists have used it to signify royalty, and divinity. Taurai Dhliwayo translates the symbolic headwear into an abrasive local idiom.
Dhliwayo’s piece, a bust made out of concrete does not serve the typical purpose for such devotion. A bust is usually made to show the likeness of a celebrated person. This bust draws the viewer close, to expose the subjects’ folly. A crown hangs above its neck that looks as if it was decapitated with a blunt machete. Where there should have been eyes, lips, and nose there is just empty space! The missing head is a literal translation of the expression Hauna musoro/Awula nqondo.
Taurai Dhliwayo’s faceless sculpture is an unsolved riddle. The viewer is left scrambling to fill in the blank space. It can be a mirror to the self-sabotaging individual. Or the memory of a father who was never there.
