Psikhelekedana is a traditional art form from the south of

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

that is dating back to at least colonial times. Psikhelekedana are

miniature models A scale model is a physical model which is geometrically similar to an object (known as the prototype). Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small prototypes ...

consisting of small wood carvings painted in bright, glossy colors.

History

Psikhelekedana originates from the Ronga, an ethnic group living in what today are the

Maputo Maputo (), formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the Capital city, capital, and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a popul ...

and

Gaza Province Gaza is a province of Mozambique. It has an area of 75,709 km2 and a population of 1,422,460 (2017 census), which is the least populous of all the provinces of Mozambique. Xai-Xai is the capital of the province. Inhambane Province is to t ...

of Mozambique. Initially these sculptures reflected the agricultural environment of their makers as they depicted wild animals such as birds, snakes or crocodiles or household objects such as spoons, bowls or masks. These sculptures were made from the wood of the Trichilia emetica, a tree of the Mahogany family found in Southern Africa. With urbanization Psikhelekedana sculptures began to diversify and to depict modern objects like cars, radios or motorcycles or people in the city. Since the 1980s and especially since the end of the Mozambican Civil War in 1992 the dominant trend in this art form is the depiction of events from Mozambican history. Events depicted by artists include for example the arrival of

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link E ...

, the Carlos Cardoso murder trial or the

2000 Mozambique flood The 2000 Mozambique flood was a natural disaster that occurred in February and March 2000. The catastrophic flooding was caused by heavy rainfall that lasted for five weeks and made many homeless. Approximately 800 people died, 1400 km2 of arable ...

. Nowadays most artists work in cooperatives. Although most sculptures are sold as souvenirs to tourists and foreigners, Psikhelekedana received serious recognition with exhibitions at the French Cultural Center Maputo in 2003 and the

Instituto Camões The Instituto Camões ( English: ''Camões Institute''), formally, Camões — Instituto da Cooperação e da Língua, I. P. ( English: ''Camões — Institute for Cooperation and Language, Public Institute''), is a Portuguese international instit ...

in 2005. Psikhelekedana can also be found in the Museu Nacional de Arte in Maputo. Notable Psikhelekedana artists include Crimildo Cumbe, Samuel Balói, Dino Jethá, Bernardo Valói and Abel Nhantumbo.

Characteristics

Most modern Psikhelekedana sculptures are ironic and unconventional. Their depiction of Mozambican history usually follows the official interpretation of the

Mozambican Liberation Front FRELIMO (; from the Portuguese , ) is a democratic socialist political party in Mozambique. It is the dominant party in Mozambique and has won a majority of the seats in the Assembly of the Republic in every election since the country's first ...

and their optimistic and modernising ideology. Despite these limitations Psikhelekedana sculptures can serve not only as a work of art, but also as a documentation of important events in the history of Mozambique.

Examples

References

{{Reflist Mozambican culture African sculpture