Woodstock artist Chantal Coetzee is shining a light on Africa’s queens and female leaders in her new exhibition launched at the Castle of Good Hope on Women’s Day last Friday .
African Queens: Restoring History is a passion project and saw her doing extensive research about female leaders during the colonial era, she says.
“As a feminist and amateur historian, I love portraits and painting. You can tell so much from the painting, and each painting has clues to the further identity of each queen,” she says.
“Most of the history shared in the past was Eurocentric, and African women of the past were portrayed as being silent who do not have a voice, and that is not true.”
She started doing the research for the paintings in 2021 and describes it as being like a treasure hunt.
The historical figures in the 11 paintings include Queen Moremi of the Ile-Ile Kingdom (in what is now Nigeria) who was queen of the Yoruba Tribe in the 1300s; Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba (in what is now Angola) who ruled for 30 years; and Krotoa, who was born in 1642 and was a prominent Khoi leader and an interpreter for the Dutch.
Each painting has a brief write-up about the woman it depicts.
Ms Coetzee plans to do more paintings featuring African queens.
“This is my third exhibition; it keeps growing. Every time there are new queens, it is so important to get the information out,” she says.
African Queens: Restoring History is at the Iziko Gallery of Good Hope, Secunde’s House, Castle of Good Hope, from Mondays to Saturdays from 9am to 3pm. The exhibition will run until Monday September 30. Email Ms Coetzee at chani3rdi@gmail.com or WhatsApp her at 071 350 9707 for more information.
