African dragons for the wallhanging

For my two squares I decided to go with something African as I thought that everyone else would go for the traditional European or Chinese dragons. Since African legends don't do dragons as such, I went for two water serpents. Both pieces are in cotton perle on wool fabric.

The first is Nyaminyami, the god of the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe. His wife lives in the Kariba Gorge, and when the dam was built they were separated. The local people believe that one day Nyaminyami will destroy the dam and be reunited with his wife. I guess he's like a local Loch Ness Monster, there have been many sightings and people have apparently disappeared and been eaten by him. Most of the images I've seen of him are carvings in wood and stone, so I thought I'd give him some nice water colours.



The other serpent I chose is Ayida-Weddo, a voodoo legend from Benin in West Africa. Ayido-Weddo, also called the Rainbow Serpent, is the wife of Damballah, a goddess of fertility and part of the creation myth of the Fon people. I did her in the colours of the Rastafarian flag just because :).



- Ameline