Landscape Expressionist Painting, "At the Durbar"

Bright colors enclose a joyous multitude gathered beneath umbrellas. Using elongated shapes, Joseph Kobina Prah depicts a durbar. In Africa's tribal culture, traditional durbars of royals and their subjects form a vital part of life. Durbars are ceremonial occasions marking the significant events of a region's people, such as an annual festival, the monarch's anniversary or a royal occasion. At these gatherings, rulers meet with their constituents amid much fanfare, drumming and dancing. The monarch sits at the head of these occasions – nonetheless representing every soul in the domain.