The image of Nehanda Charwe Nyakasikana is bitterly etched into the collective consciousness of Zimbabwe. It comes from a photograph that was taken by the British South Africa Company (BSAC) police, who sentenced and executed her without trial. The picture is the basis from which a bronze sculpture was made, and erected in the capital, Harare. It is an official monument that stands to define her legacy, and to sustain memory.
European colonizers used the camera as a tool for exercising power and subjugation. Dress and pose were be orchestrated to entrench racist ideas of White supremacy. It was a form of physical and spiritual violence. Through the colonial gaze Charwe and her compatriots are pathologised and viewed as criminals. At a subconscious level the photograph compels viewers to empathize with the values and ideals of the photographer. Anyone looking at the image becomes an accomplice under Charwe’s returned gaze that is permanently fixed on her adversary. The image paints such a damning self-portrait of her captors that it galvanized the Second Chimurenga. With this photograph Charwe is inextricably linked to the colonial agenda. Her legacy and that of Nehanda are diminished at being defined by advent of the colonizer. Repurposing the sadistic image into a symbol for resistance was a necessary an act of subversion.
What the bronze sculpture of Nehanda Nyakasikana portrays is no different from the old monochrome photograph. Like Charwe’s embodiment by the spirit of Nehanda it is not a first of its king. Originally, sculptor
David Guy Mutasa had by poetic license imagined Charwe as she might have looked when she was younger, and free. The public was not impressed.
They ridiculed his efforts and swamped the Internet with ‘tits and ass memes’. For his second effort, Mutasa replicated the image from the colonial archive.
Instead of just the traditional anklets she wore before, Charwe’s feet are further
accessorised with chains. The fetish for a long-suffering black matriarch who saves the world was fulfilled.
A photograph of the sculpture was captured by photojournalist Annie Mpalume and shared under the title “ Nehanda watching sunset.” Annie took the shot on the day the sculpture was unveiled, after the official ceremony. She was on her way home from work, after covering the event earlier. By her standards it is not a perfect photograph. Perhaps the image works because of its perfect imperfections. → →
Mpalume’s photograph is both intuitive and anti-monumental. As daylight fades the romanticizing dusk transforms the statue of Charwe into solid shadow. In silhouette the bronze statue acquires an eerie presence. The sculpture’s physical attributes are no longer recognizable. Likeness to the old photograph becomes tellingly irrelevant. The caption takes away original
context from the mugshot, and relieves Nyakasikana of the burden to save the world. Birds, midflight against the dusky sky radiate a lifelike stillness over the carved ones below. The setting sun signals end of business for the day. It is a moment for the subject to relax, look back, meditate, and heal.
In Mpalume’s hands the camera is a tool for emancipation. Annie’s chosen point of view results in deconstruction of the scene. The clothes, hair, and facial expression are no longer important. Without visible marks the chains are no longer part of the image description, therefore, Charwe’s sentence is vacated. She transcends gender, age, race, and material status. Such striping away of superficialities can be seen as symbolic regression toward Nyamhita the progenitor for Nehanda Nyakasikana.
Mpalume’s interesting career as photojournalist brings a unique perspective, sensibility, and aesthetic to the newsroom. Success for an African woman in a field crowded with men does not come easy. In her profession women get fewer opportunities for work compared to men. A woman’s age is judged less favourably than older male colleagues for assignments in the field. In spite of it all Annie continues to make pictures directed by the female gaze, establishing an empathetic and compassionate brand that is never invasive.
Annie’s fervour and passion come from her love for the craft. Whenever she picks up a camera, she claims to find her purpose. Persistence and tenacity have enabled her to challenge the status quo. She may not claim to be
possessed, but Annie’s career follows an ancient pattern of heroic living.
