INT. DAY – KWETU
On a Monday-morning a lady and a gentleman sit in the restaurant Kwetu in Maputo.
Felina
Well, the best aspect of it is that it’s in front of the mirror. It even goes well with my dress, don’t you think?
Jorge
Yes, the patterns match, nice.
Felina
Did you think of it yourself?
Jorge
No, it’s Sady’s idea. This is the second mural I made for him, the first was in the first Kwetu.
Felina
There are two?
Jorge
No, but the restaurant was in a different location back then, right around the corner really.
Felina
I have no idea, but who cares, we are here now. So, does this mean anything or did you just make something pretty?
Jorge
This is called Imigongo, it’s Rwandese, Sady wanted a piece of his homeland in his restaurant. It makes sense because ‘kwetu’ means home.
Felina
Oh, I didn’t know that. This is traditional art then?
Jorge
Yes, but the original is made of cow dung, I just used paint.
Felina
You modernized it a bit.
Jorge
Am not sure how to respond to that.
Felina
It’s not complicated sweetie, I don’t want an art historical reference right now.
Jorge
Too bad, there is actually something interesting going on here, in my opinion at least.
Felina
Oh please, am I now supposed to be curious and give you permission to explain the finer details of your great artwork? Is there a deeper layer that I won’t access with my tiny mind without your vast understanding of everything?
Jorge
(Silence)
Felina
Am I being harsh?
Jorge
No, just cynical.
Felina
Am I hurting your tender soul?
Jorge
Now you’ve done it, you’re gonna get it.
Felina
Did I provoke you?
Jorge
Yes, be quiet, you will be served.
Felina
I’ve never seen you on your toes.
Jorge
You asked for it.
Imigongo is a national thing, if you will, a cultural aesthetic. That term is not really appropriate because it goes further than that.
Felina
Okay, fine, this is my fault anyway.
Jorge
The term language also does not apply to it, of course there is syntax and differánce but, I just don’t think of it in that manner. To read it in strictly philosophical-aesthetic terms is to limit it to the academic art world.
Felina
Is that bad?
Jorge
No, but..
Felina
But what?
Jorge
Do you know what cymatics is?
Felina
No.
Jorge
Can you google it?
Felina
Serious?
Jorge
Yes, if you see a video of it you will immediately get it. It is a way to visualize the patterns of sound-waves.
Felina
Wait, I remember seeing a meme of somebody putting rice on a plate and then the sound changed.
Jorge
Yes, the pitch became higher and every time you saw the patterns become more complex.
Felina
You could see a cross, a square, circle and even spirals. I thought it had something to do with the galaxy and that kind of stuff.
Jorge
You can say that. One could also say that the basic imigongo patterns are two-dimensional representations of those sound-waves. Also, it is a system of fractals.
Felina
I knew that. The same basic form repeats itself in itself.
Jorge
Yes, it is a perfect mathematical system.
Felina
The sound-patterns are beautiful indeed.
Jorge
Yes, but I was referring to imigongo. To me it’s a system of geometric forms that have to be connected in a specific manner.
Felina
They all are, Jorge.
Jorge
No, you can recognize it immediately, it’s not like the South-African or Zimbabwean style, you can’t just do whatever. There are unwritten rules that you notice the more imigongo you see. It is a sort of conceptual system that has infinite variations. One would be able to write software that makes thousands of imigongo designs in seconds. It really works like a conceptualist piece.
Felina
Did I hear that right?
Jorge
Yes, it makes me think of Sol Lewitt’s murals. It is Conceptual Art in a traditional African manner, without the art-world context.
Felina
It is an idea that can be implemented by anyone in any way, but the concept is the same. The piece may not even be built.
Jorge
I believe the piece is to be felt and perhaps even meditated with.
Felina
This takes an unexpected turn.
Jorge
Yes, well, various Asian traditions use images to meditate with, even sculptures of Jesus on a cross serve this purpose. It is not weird to think that these images were used like that. Some practices of Hindu religion require a mental focus on geometrical patterns so that one can infuse them in their astral fields via the breath. It doesn’t matter if you believe this or not, it doesn’t matter if it’s real or not, people have been doing this for millennia I believe.
Felina
Traditional African culture is full of all those spiritual things, if I can call it that.
Jorge
Yes, we are full of it.
Felina
The drums and dancing have something to do with this?
Jorge
Yes, let me tell you.
Felina
More art history?
Jorge
No, something else.
Felina
It doesn’t stop with you.
Jorge
Never, you want to hear this.
Felina
It’s about colonialism, isn’t it?
Jorge
No, welll, nah, indirectly yes, but still no.
Felina
That makes sense, right Jorge?
Jorge
Listen.
In a book by Credo Mutwa and an interview of Andrew Bartzis I came across a certain something that is interesting to our conversation. To make a semi-long story short I will just jump to the conclusion, like a good journalist is supposed to do.
Felina
Aren’t you a painter?
Jorge
Yes, but just listen.
Felina
Why do you always like to complicate things?
Jorge
Artistic license.
On this continent we always had crop circles, just like everybody else. All over the world whenever they found these there were people who copied the patterns. This is not easy because the really interesting ones are gone after a few hours. The plants are not broken, just bent, after a while the bending reverts and the plants are in their normal state again. This is also a thing in the contemporary ones, whenever the plants are mistreated you know you are dealing with a fake. Plus they are always near moving water, otherwise the technology doesn’t work.
Felina
Aliens?
Jorge
No, just a breakaway civilization.
Felina
What is that?
Jorge
A population that manages to be so far ahead of the rest technologically that they can live separately. They become independent of the world economy and are untouchable to us. Similar to a wildebeest walking next to a jeep, or a monkey pointing at a drone; they are so far ahead that we can’t even imagine that they are human.
Felina
Are they trying to communicate to us via higher concepts?
Jorge
Don’t think so. I believe they are trying to manipulate the geo-energetic grid to their benefit. It is a science I do not fully understand. We are just lucky to get a glimpse of it.
Felina
So, the not-aliens are doing their thing and we, stupid monkeys, think it is an angel telling us that we are God’s children?
Jorge
Again, cynicism, funny.
Felina
What does this have to do with imigongo?
Jorge
I don’t know, intuition says there is something there. It goes back to the geometry and it being traditional. In my mind I see it being a derivative of a library of geometries collected by a group of people. This happened in other places and times too, that the original knowledge and its origin is lost but the derivatives are present in tradition. It can be a manner to save knowledge in a cultural practice: encoding it in aesthetics so that the ones applying it don’t even have to know. Many African cultures apply geometrical aesthetics. I am pretty sure most do not even want to know that these geometries are two-dimensional representations of multi-dimensional geometries. A circle in a circle in circle, either concentric or in series, is a model of an hypersphere. How many capulanas did you see based on such a pattern?
Felina
I will wear it the next time I see you.
Jorge
Would love to see you in it.
Felina
Why don’t you write a book about your crazy theory?
Jorge
Maybe I should. I believe it requires more research. Now it just sounds weird.
Felina
It seems logic and just.. true.
Jorge
Tell your cynicism that.
Felina
In colonial times it was forbidden to have cultural knowledge beyond the basics, am I right about that?