Babinga

Babinga Ceremony
14 x 11 inches, oil on canvas, 2020

The woman in the painting already appeared once behind Andre Didier in a painting I did not too long ago. Then I removed her. The photograph from which I pulled her image did not appear in the photo of Andre Didier but appeared on a separate photo that was also taken by Gilbert Rouget stemming from the same Ogooué-Congo Mission of 1946. Chant magique en partant pour la chasse au filet is unlike the work song that was illustrated in the Didier painting a recording of a ceremony. This was the reason the image was removed. For this track the image is more appropriate and may very well be depicting the actual person dancing in front of the chanting chorus of women that feature in Roget's photograph.