Louis Maqhubela, b. 1939 Tyilo-Tyilo 1, 1997 Gouache on paper 98-19-2, museum purchase This painting was inspired by the music of the 1960s from the South African townships. "Tyilo-Tyilo" is also the title of a song that Miriam Makeba recorded in the Xhosa language and means songbird or nightingale. The lyrics describe herders listening to a nightingale. The dark square at the center of the painting suggests a night sky filled with brilliant stars; the sky changes and lightens to become a sunlit day. |