THE EARLY RAIN WHICH WASHES AWAY THE CHAFF BEFORE THE SPRING RAINS
Heiko-Thandeka Ncube, Germany 2023
12 min. / OV
Original language: Ndebele
“The title of this film translates to the Shona word ‘Gukurahundi,’ a cynical euphemism that refers to a series of massacres that were executed by the Zimbabwean military in the 1980s. The genocide happened within the wake of Zimbabwe’s liberation and targeted the Kalanga and Ndebele people, part of my paternal ancestry. Symbols, commonly referred to as ‘daggers’ and whose origin can be traced back to the Library of Alexandria (280 BCE), persistently chapter the imagery within the film.
The work consists of widely sourced footage, cut and cropped into a mosaic evoking ghosts in the shape of nationhood and ancestry. Gaping wounds that are sorely mended by wisps of Christian and Bantu mythology enact rippling effects throughout the years that followed Zimbabwe’s emancipation. Adversities drawn from past centuries emerge and collide with the psychological impact of racial oppression. THE EARLY RAIN WHICH WASHES AWAY THE CHAFF BEFORE THE SPRING RAINS interlaces the historical context of the genocide with affective associations derived from its traumatic legacy. It articulates a sense of grief, fear, and violence that has been passed down through generations.” Heiko-Thandeka Ncube
