Paredes Pintadas da Lunda

Chokwe (an ethnic group from central and southern Africa) murals are among the best known and most thoroughly documented in Central Africa. These designs painted on the outer clay walls of their houses were community works by both adults and children. The murals reproduced here are replicas based on the José Redinha’s photographs and watercolors. He used the same pigments and binders as those used by the original artists. Some of the murals are coherent, abstract designs, but many depict an assortment of plants, animals, mythical figures, and people. The images are generally unrelated to one another as if added at different times or painted by different people. At the top of plate 12 (pictured here), a procession of men are wearing miners uniforms issued by the nearby Portuguese diamond mining company. Two men carry a company official in a litter. Below are two wild birds. In the bottom left, a man drives an automobile. On the right, a landscape with birds in a field.  And in the bottom right, there is another man with a vehicle of some kind.