Umuntu (Human) → Abantu (Humans) → Ubuntu (Human) → Isintu (Humility)
– The Flow of Being, taken from SJ’s book, Selfworth (2018).
Painting: Zulu Maidens Gossip
Artist: Q. Mkhwanazi
Country: Zimbabwe/South Africa
Year: 2018
Price: Priceless
Qoqiqiniso Mkhwanazi is one of my best friends having known him for 35+ years. Yeah, no, his name loosely meaning purveyor of the truth, is a trip to pronounce for all of us! Shout out to Q’s dad–the epitome of Zulu-ness, a KwaZulu-Natal family which lived in Bulawayo in the 1980s.
Izithakazelo zakwaMkhwanazi [Mkhwanazi village clan praises]
Gagisa!
Shamase!
Dubandlela!
Dlebhu wabeSwati! (Great Chief from the Swati!)
I gave the painting the title and did not pay Q. a cent for this piece, why of course! In an African village, maidens go to the river to fetch water. This piece depicts three pre-1900 bare-breasted Zulu maidens gossiping about boys. The ladies are carrying water gourds above their heads, something which stuns Europeans. Fetching water was a social network for girls who would have a chance to meet sexy cattle-herding boys, the original “cowboys”, along the way in plan for marriage.
We did not have the concept of boyfriend/girlfriend. Ubuntu dictated that a woman picked a soul mate, ukukhomba (Nguni/Old Zulu) / ukugana (New Zulu), and that man was therefore lucky to be selected.