The Sunday News
Pathisa Nyathi
In our forthcoming publication, “Echoes from the Past: Interpreting Zimbabwe’s Decorative Symbols” we argue that all the decorative symbols on Zimbabwe tradition stone walls are variations of the same symbol that carries the same message.
The symbols in question are the following: chess board, chevron and the dentelle. It can also be argued that the cord is also a modified symbol in the same mold carrying the same message. We further argue that all the decorative symbols are metaphors for woman and carry the message of continuity, eternity, infinity, perpetuity and fertility.
Individuals perish. Humanity is forever. This is our own way of expressing the same idea that is expressed by the decorative symbols on stone effected through structural means. Africans have always recognised that it takes two to tango. Continuity is possible when male and female engage. This realisation was as a result of the observation that sexual reproduction is one sure way of extending the bloodline, that is, ensuring the continuity of the human species.
We are around today just because of sexual reproduction engaged in by our parents and ancestors. Though we perish, that is dying, humanity goes on and on and this is the idea of continuity which was keenly sought after.
It is interesting to note that the decorative symbols that convey the message of continuity proliferate on stone walls which are part of the residences of royalty. The symbols thus are a prayer that seeks to perpetuate the ruling dynasty. If the ruler is King Munhumutapa his desire and wish is to ensure that at two levels there is continuity. At personal level, he wants his rule to continue till he dies in office. There was no room for succession before the demise of the father as there were never two suns in the sky — a lesson indelibly etched in the minds of the Ndebele by King Mzilikazi when the chiefs, during his two-year absence, installed Prince Nkulumane.
At dynasty level, the Munhumutapa lineage seeks to entrench and perpetuate itself and rule for eternity and in perpetuity. Essentially, kingship must at all times remain within the same lineage or dynasty. It does not matter whether succession is lateral or vertical; the important thing is that the dynasty remains in power. This is the idea or message embodied in the decorative symbols fashioned out on rock which, as strong material, carries the message of continuity as it weathers but slowly. Rock re-emphasises and reiterates this pervasive theme. It communicates solidity and eternal values including eternal confinement of the seat of power to the Munhumutapa dynasty.
All the decorative symbols in our view express Africa’s recognition of the greater role played by women in ensuring continuity or fertility. They play a greater role in sexual reproduction. While the men folk do play a part, it is without doubt less than that of women who for nine months have to nourish the zygote, embryo and foetus growing within their bodies. No wonder, as we have observed, some female insects will turn and devour the males soon after mating.
Mating marks the end of male insects’ role and they are best becoming the source of protein for the growing offspring.
Are we not better than insects?
Though the role of the male may be less, it is nonetheless essential for fertility. Mother Earth (female) without rain (read semen) remains barren. There would simply be no life on the planet. African traditional rain dances made use of this symbolism to cause rain to fall. If human sexual reproduction guarantees continuity, its principles are applied within the realm of the environment — in the rain making ceremonies. The question is, what form does the male component take? Great Zimbabwe is circular in design, a natural cosmic influence expressed at cultural level. The circle symbolises femininity, so do the decorative symbols on the walls that are circular.
There is fascinating complementarity here — of designs and structural embellishment (decorative symbols) all of which carry the metaphor of woman. Where is the man? One would expect that there would be some balance — implying the tango by the two! Now we need to appreciate that decorative symbols were mediated artistic expressions informed by certain African ideas and values. In the first instance, the symbols convey a community’s cosmology, worldview and philosophy. The symbols are artistic renditions and must comply with ideas relating to African aesthetics. Again, the artistic renditions must take into cognisance African ideas on moral ethics. What are African ideas regarding nudity? Would the African artiste have drawn female sexual organs? Was the “tabooness” of female organs taken to the same extent as that of male organs? It is imperative that when dealing with decorative symbols we subject them to various dictates relating to the Africans, in particular the issues enumerated above. Very strange and weird interpretations of decorative symbols have been proffered, largely because the African was not allowed centre stage in those interpretations.
Africa will deal with such issues by circumventing nudity and pornography by coming up with abstract representations of issues most taboo. A band or thick line will represent a phallus, the male organ. Let us see the dark bands on stone walls as being 3D, thus making them cylindrical and therefore circular. I am sure you can see already what is being represented by the dark dolerite bands on stone walls such as at Khami, Great Zimbabwe and other stone settlements. We have said at Great Zimbabwe, which is in the main a portrayal of femininity, there has to be a counterpart to the female expression. Dynastic perpetuity is not expressed unilaterally by femininity. The Royal Enclosure, which on account of its design is female, may be complemented by the conical tower which may be expressing masculinity. Aeneas Chigwedere has posited the idea and we should not be in a hurry to dismiss his assertion.
The bands executed through coloured pigments excavated from the ground have been used to produce bands that surround the walls of kitchen huts in rural areas compared with designs seen during My Beautiful Home-Comba Indlu Ngobuciko Project in Matobo District. This could very well be the balancing artistic rendition of the phallus. It is practically impossible to draw a coloured band at right angles to the wall. Once again, we see the phallus less represented both in home decorations and in royal settlements made from stone. This is a cultural rendition of a natural reality. Remember the female insect that turns around and consumes the male after mating; a male whose otherwise sweet role has come to a bitter end. Such a reality is captured in architecture by the African architect.
It is in this same vein that kings committed incest with their sisters. It was recognised that the more reproductive person was the female. Thus in addition to the “females on rock” represented by decorative symbols, a living blood sister complemented and reinforced the decorative symbols. The refrain is the same. The theme is one. The idea is identical. When the African artiste produces artistic renditions, he expresses his culture, his worldview, his aesthetics, his moral ethics and how he gathers knowledge (his epistemology).
Echoes from a distant past hold the hope of helping us understand the traditional African. Echoes from the past give us the key to unlock the African mind which is behind all the numerous cultural practices including architecture, designs and artistic renditions. Certainly Africa must be understood on her terms!
