By Andrew Mulenga
An African Jesus Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem riding on a donkey to the enthusiasm of the crowds |
In Southern Province’s new provincial capital,
Choma, are hidden artistic treasures whose value may probably not be
appreciated as much as it should be by its custodians as well as people who
have come in contact with it over the years.
The bible scene with Jesus at the well with the Samaritan woman shows signs of damage and peeling of paint |
Familiar, and accessible mostly to pupils that
were educated at Njase Girls Secondary School, among them tourism and arts
minister Sylvia Masebo, is a chapel that is decorated with life-sized wall
paintings by late Zambian muralist and Christian painter Emmanuel Nsama that have
majestically covered both sides of the interior for the past 42 years.
This painting of a doubting Thomas has been severely exposed to corosion and severe sunlight |
Only 29 years old at the time, Nsama was commissioned
to paint eight large murals (paintings) depicting the life of Jesus Christ by a
European missionary and the founder of the school which now belongs to the
United Church of Zambia, just four years after the country’s independence upon
returning from a two year advanced art programme at
Sheridan College in Canada.
The chapel at Njase Girls Secondary School in Choma |
As much as the murals belong to the Church and the
school, the fact that the works are over 40 years old and Jesus is depicted as
an African adds strength to the imagery in line with enculturation where
Europeans and Africans may have found them as instruments of dialogue in a newly
liberated Zambia giving the paintings a high degree of significance with
regards the country’s cultural heritage.
Whether or not Nsama had the autonomy to depict
African bible characters, in these works, he becomes an interpreter of Christianity
allowing Africans to encounter the Gospel in their own culture as they look at
images, not of European iconography, but something closer to home that makes
Christianity not so foreign.
But in his work not only does Nsama attempt to enculture
Christianity by depicting an African Jesus, he also made an attempt to bring
the bible scenes to the modern-day, or the Zambia of the moment. A good example
would be the proverbial scene from Mathews 21:1-11 of Jesus Christ’s triumphal
entry into Jerusalem riding on a donkey to the enthusiasm of the crowds. While
Nsama’s entire cast is African, Jesus is clad in a scarlet robe with a white cloth
covering his head, typical of European iconography; a boy in the multitudes throwing
palm leaves before Christ is dressed in modern European-style clothing and the
woman next to him is dressed in chitenge
fabric.
In one of the paintings, the woman from whom Jesus
asked a drink of water at the well while travelling through Samaria in the book
of John is also clad in chitenge waist and head wrap. She holds an African
clay pot and drinking gourd in her hands looking more Zambian in appearance than
a Samaritan of Jesus’ time. In the backdrop is what looks like savannah grass
lands and a footpath leading up to a village with thatched huts, creating an
idyllic African landscape.
The work is presented with earnest simplicity, but
the sheer scale of the paintings that were executed on two and a half metre
wide wooden panels and screwed to the walls suggest the artist had spent
countless, backbreaking hours that must have given him a sense of monastic
vacation to get the job done.
There is a downside to the revelation of these
outstanding specimens of African Christian art. All the eight murals are
damaged, some more than others. Most of the damage seems to have occurred at
the lower points of the murals due to continuous human contact. It is clear
that over the 42 year period, pupils have been rubbing against them as well as playfully
peeling the paint off, which is not surprising considering the school does not
offer art as an examinable subject and the children also have the misfortune of
being in a country whose art appreciation, even on the highest rungs of the
social and academic ladders, is all but non-existent.
But the deterioration on some of the paintings is
due to natural causes, such as possible leakages in the seams of the roof and
the effect of direct sunlight from a broken window or two. It is also obvious
that rain water seeps through forming algae on the surfaces of some of the
paintings.
The paintings are aching for restoration. This
however should be done by engaging professionals. Nsama, like other artists of
his time maintained very high professional standards which is why the work has
not faded until this day. In his day, academically trained artists used pigments,
turpentine and linseed oil in the classical European manner. So it would make
no sense to engage the many sign writers readily available in Choma to retouch
instead of restore the treasurable images.
Strictly speaking, the Njase Girls chapel needs
slight restoration as much as the paintings do. It would be nice to see the
School and former pupils put their heads together and help raise some funds for
such a project so that the building, as well as the paintings continues to be spiritually
uplifting to pupils who will be passing through the school for many more years
to come.
Nevertheless, fate seems to be on Njase’s side.
Not only is the current minister in charge of the arts one of its academic
products, but the recent elevation of the town as the provincial capital further
raises the schools profile and according to media reports, K3.8 billion out of
the K15 billion for construction of infrastructure by the government has
already been released.
The town is also the home of the Choma Museum and
Crafts Centre, (formerly a girls school itself) that has proved popular among local and
international visitors with its permanent display of the arts, crafts and
culture of the Tonga people as well as the gigantic steel balls that were used
in the construction of the Kariba dam. The museum has also been quite active
displaying works by notable artists such as Bert Witkamp, Patrick Mweemba, Simon
Chungu and Sylvia Mwando.
There is no harm in wishing
that the murals at Njase become an extension on the itinerary of tourists and
researchers as they visit the museum just about seven minutes’ drive away.
Choma is only two hours outside Livingstone and it just might benefit from
visitors to the United Nations World Tourism Organisations general assembly next
year, who knows. The school celebrates its golden jubilee next year.
Beautiful and inspirational work.
ReplyDeleteNick if you are on Facebook find Andrew Mulenga and "LIKE" it as some of the updates are more regular than the blog, Thanks for the support once again...
DeleteWow! I love these paintings. I love Triumphal Entry; I'll enjoy showing this to our congregation on Palm Sunday, with the artist's name and this blogspot, of course. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteKLC
Hi Andrew, I'll ask on your Facebook page, too, but am I able to reproduce the Triumphal Entry painting on my blog for Palm Sunday?
ReplyDeleteWould I need to ask permission of the school, or relatives of the painter, or...? Thanks! Thalia Kehoe Rowden | Sacraparental.com
I believe I am right in saying that these marvellous pictures were restored in 2013 with the help of the Gossner Mission
ReplyDeletehttp://andrewmulenga.blogspot.co.za/2013/10/njase-murals-get-facelift.html
DeleteYes, can you advise how to obtain permission to reproduce the image for worship and church website?
ReplyDelete