The African woman has for long lived in the shadows despite bearing the biggest burden of bearing and supporting her family.
Daughter of Zion, a photo exhibition by AfricaiLove Foundation, has chosen to celebrate the African mother by showcasing pictures of mothers and children in their daily natural relationship.
The exhibition which kicked of late November and running to end of December at the Mamba Club in Kimihurura, Kigali, documents a journey of mothers, young women and children as captured on camera by Christian Cyiza, better known as Bob Chris Raheem.
The 30 odd pictures on show at the Mamba Club capture the everyday economic and family life of mothers and their children, and is expected to inspire society to appreciate the role of women.
Cyiza draws inspiration from daily activities, where as a videographer, and founder of Raheem Lyon Ltd, shooting films and music videos both in urban and rural settings, he encounters intimate family moments with women at the centre of everything. These are the stories brought out by the exhibition.
Photography, unlike videography, shows Cyiza’s storytelling abilities. His pictures show relationships of mothers with toddlers even when doing farm work with babies strapped on their backs, as breadwinners hawking fruits balanced on trays on their heads while carrying babies, or simply posing with their children relaxing and playing.
Most of the pictures in the collection are typical mother-child in happy moments which symbolises great hope and warmth shared with society and the world around them.
He particularly focuses on painting his subjects’ Africaness through their attires of Ikitenge outfits and the head wraps, seated in natural setting portraying the African way of life.
Being his first solo exhibition, Daughter of Zion is dedicated to mothers and women and Cyiza hopes his portraits will encourage society to embrace mothers, in recognition of their role and toil not only for family but also society.
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