By Mary Mwendwa
From a distance, one would think or imagine it is a form of monument. Colorfully displayed, sitting on the map of Kenya, an image of a woman crying surrounded by all sorts of wildlife ecosystems and a huge axe cutting through her, is breathtaking.
Natural sounds of animals, the loudest being the king of the jungle, the lion and waterfalls, straight away gives a feeling of spectacular flora and fauna of nature.
She is surrounded by many types of animals and plants; The big cats, primates, insects and birds.
Beside her is her lifeless ‘husband’- the stump of a tree that is lonely and no one is close to him, he is dead.
This is none other than Mama seedlina.
“Mama Seedlina (Mother of seedlings hence forests) is a symbol of ‘Mother Nature’ whose absence is disastrous to life on earth. She personifies the role of a mother figure in creating a platform for co-existence of living organisms on the planet through various interactions. “
“With her partner (Baba Seedlina) felled long ago to satisfy selfish human needs, the burden on her shoulders to provide the indispensable ecosystem services is almost unbearable unless there is some intervention! Her exposure to wanton human developmental activities leaves her mourning the imminent loss of her ‘children’ and the entire ecosystem she supports.” Says Peris Karuiki, A researcher at National Museums of Kenya.
Nicholas Muema, the artist behind Mama seedlina , agrees to the fact that art is a wide subject that involves many things like primitive /abstract art.
“My interest evolves around anything that involves creativity and art hence when the idea of demonstrating how nature has been destroyed was proposed to me, I took up the challenge.”
Muema says that it has been work in progress and he is proud of his final product. He has done other botanical art demonstrations for 13 years and believes art is a useful tool to pass a message.
He confirms the use of taxidermy (preserving of an animal’s body via stuffing or mounting for the purpose of display or study ) in his art work .He has used the technology on Mama seedlina .
“This kind of art is 4 Dimensional ( 4 D ) meaning it allows the viewer to see all dimensions of the artwork. “He concludes.
Mama Seedlina was part of the exhibition at the ongoing National Museums of Kenya stand where they showcased at the Association for the Taxonomic Study of the Flora of Tropical Africa (AETFAT) congress, opportunities and challenges in biodiversity conservation in the face of climate change .
Themes were around; Plant and animal interactions, Ecological diversity and sustenance, and values of biodiversity.
