Queen Modjadji's Shrine

Title: Queen Modjadji's Shrine
Medium: Six colour lithograph
Paper size: 76.5 x 57cm
Image size: 69 x 50.5 cm
Edition size: 30

Queen Modjadji’s Shrine celebrates South Africa’s rain queen. The Modjadji or Rain Queen is the hereditary queen of Balobedu, a people of the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The succession to the position of Rain Queen is matrilineal, meaning that the Queen's eldest daughter is the heir and that males are not entitled to inherit the throne at all. The Rain Queen is believed to have special powers, including the ability to control the clouds and rainfall.  Mabaso has created an apron for the queen, cool blues in some of the tassels echoing rain falling across a parched African landscape. This image also recalls rock paintings found in Southern Africa that depict good rain with soft gentle life bringing rains which are associated with female energy in southern Africa. The lines in front of the sun recall mists rising from fertile valleys, a common sight after the rains have drenched the subtropical mountains surrounding the Queen’s homestead.