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SENSUALITY 2: The abuse of Swazi's Queens Painting

O Yemi Tubi

United Kingdom

Painting, Oil on Canvas

Size: 24 W x 18 H x 1 D in

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About The Artwork

It’s a common tradition in Swaziland for the king to choose a wife each year. The Reed Dance ceremony is an annual event held in August or September, where unmarried and childless girls and women travel from the various chiefdoms to Ludzidzini to participate in the eight-day event, and would-be brides are publicly checked to ascertain their virginity. A chosen young lady will be added to the list of the queens of Swaziland and supposedly to enjoy a life of luxury. All is not well with some of the Swaizi’s Queens. There have been allegations of abuse and isolation of some of the queens. Two of the wives of King Mswati III have left him. Putsoana Hwala and Delisa Magwaza left the royal house in 2004. At the age of 18, Zena Mahlangu, was allegedly abducted by royal aides to become the king’s 10th wife; Queen Nothando Dube, the 12th wife of the King, was allegedly beaten and imprisoned. Queen Senteni Masango took her own life due to depression and the misery of her royal life. The terrible ordeal of these young ladies influenced this painting. In his usual style O. Yemi depicting the lives of these unfortunate ladies as roses and thorns. Doubtlessly, the days they were selected among thousands of other young ladies would have been their happiest days with joyous anticipation of potentially rosy time ahead. The thorns are the unimaginable terrible ordeal they encountered that lead Queen Senteni Masango to commit suicide. The dark hunting shadow at the background of the painting is the image of King Mswati III depicting him as the main figure behind the unhappiness of these queens. The main image in the front is that of one of the queens taken part in the Reed Dance before been selected to be queen. The white beads necklace is to depict her virginity. .

Details & Dimensions

Painting:Oil on Canvas

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:24 W x 18 H x 1 D in

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O. Yemi Tubi - An Artist and Advocate for the world’s Peace. I am a Nigerian-born, American-trained Artist residing in the United Kingdom an artist with a unique personal style. Most of my recent paintings were influenced by the political and social upheaval of our world today and the works of Renaissance artists. “A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art” so said Paul Cezanne; I was moved by emotion to do most of my political and socially influenced paintings “THE EAGLE HAS LANDED” was done to speak about the American-led war on terror. My painting “THE BLEEDING ROSES” was done in solidarity with Christians beheaded by ISIS in Iraq and Syria. I used my paintings “AFRICAN’T”, “HUNGER IN THE LAND OF PLENTY” and “OIL: AFRICANS’ WEALTH AND WOE” to speak about the exploitation of African nations. The Painting depicts paradoxical poverty and the riches of Africa. my work, “THE FISHERS OF MEN” is about the horror of refugees drowning in the Mediterranean Sea. I also used my painting – “UKRAINE: THE UNFORTUNATE BRIDE” to speak about the America and Russia-influenced war in Ukraine. I desire my portrait paintings to be uniquely creative. I do not copy images from pictures. I create what the camera cannot create. I use portrait paintings to tell the stories about my subjects and often use my subjects’ professions to create their portraits as I did with the portrait of Professor Wole Soyinka, 1986 Nobel Prize Winner in Literature in my painting “SOYINKA: An Africans’ Literary Icon”, I used artist materials to create my painting “PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST” and I used the violin to create the face of my subject in the “THE VIOLINIST” My works progress from political paintings to paintings of the facts of the life of people. The theme of my works, in general, is "The Facts of Life: Roses and Thorns." Life is roses and thorns; sometimes it emanates the sweet aroma of pleasantness and sometimes it pricks and causes pains. I often use Roses and Thorns for portrait paintings of the facts of the life of people. I first used Roses and Thorns in my political painting “THE BLEEDING ROSES.” Since then I have adopted this floral iconography style - Roses and Thorns as my unique style in some of my paintings like “DOMESTIC ABUSE”, and “MY MOTHER, Her Majesty Platinum Jubilee: Her Rosy Reign” to name a few. Roses are for achievements and other positive parts of life and Thorns are painful challenges and negative parts of life.

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