Lament

Muziwakhe Nhlabatsi is a contemporary South African printmaker, watercolorist, and illustrator who is also known by the shortened name “Mzwakhe.” In the 1970s and 1980s progressive media and anti-apartheid publications frequently published Nhlabatsi’s politically themed work to accompany texts in literary journals and as book covers. His work is associated with “Black Consciousness,” which describes a political ideology that creates solidarity for black people through consciousness-raising about oppression. South African professor Deidre Pretorius lists the principles of Black Consciousness as “the need for: self-expression, to produce work about one’s own experiences and interests, and those of one’s community, to employ the styles and artistic vocabulary of one’s community, and to define the audience for one’s message.” “Lament” depicts a group of four figures with sorrowful faces and body language. Each holds a smaller figure on their lap while being comforted by another figure standing behind them.