“Mhandara yeMutoro” (The Maiden of Burdens)
Medium
PaintingMaterial
Mixed MediaDescription
Mhandara yeMutoro captures the essence of strength, grace, and youthful responsibility in Zimbabwean womanhood. This powerful mixed-media painting by Keith Zenda features a young girl balancing a basin on her head while carrying two babies — one on her back, one on her side — all with a calm, determined gaze.
The background, made from a textured magazine page titled “Pruning”, adds poetic symbolism. In the Shona worldview, pruning is not just a horticultural act — it is also about shaping life, removing what no longer serves, and fostering growth under pressure. This girl, possibly an elder sister or orphan caregiver, becomes the embodiment of early sacrifice and maturity born out of necessity.
Her traditional cloths and the way she carries the babies speak to generations of Ubuntu —the community spirit that ensures no child is left behind. Her confident eyes, full of both resolve and innocence, challenge the viewer to confront the realities of responsibility, resilience, and beauty,Try it!
