Mozambique is a low lying country on the south east coast of Africa facing the direction of Madagascar and the Pacific Ocean. It is rich in mineral resources, wildlife and a distinct Swahili culture. Since ancient times, it was an active port dealing with Arab and Indian seafaring traders until the Portuguese imposed colonialism around the turn of the 15th century. It really wasn't until 1975 that is was independent, making it one of the longest standing colonies in Africa. Since then, much of the Portuguese architecture, culture and language remains, intermixed with Swahili culture and millions of refuges from other parts of south Africa. There are currently political instabilities and insurgencies which hold back Mozambique from realizing the full wealth of the land. One commodity that was prominent in the country, and one reason it garnered so much interest from Europe is the abundant gold. There are some official, and a lot of unofficial mines, making it a dangerous and damaging occupation. To extract gold a mine pit or tunnel can be dug, or, the entire lands can be strip mined. To pan the gold, highly toxic mercury must be added which extracts gold dust and particles.
In the painting you can see some people peering down into a mine full of gold veins. Its obviously an embellishment, but there are images like this on the internet, and one can imagine 5 hundred years ago maybe there were sparkling caves full of rich gold reserves waiting to plucked from the rock. The painting was done with iridescent moonstone, (PW20) actually a sparkly mica-based paint. The black is lamp black (PBk6), yellow vanadium (PY184) and some yellow ochre (PY43). Its not obvious from the scan but the painting does sparkle and shimmer when held and angles to the light due to the mica.
World Inspired Landscapes: Mozambique, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, May 2024 (No. 3849b)
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