Water carrier as an icon of endurance

Water, fire, earth and air - the four elements of the world, the origin and basis of all life, but also the bearers of destruction and change, are a recurring motif in Ruth Baumgarte's work. In her Africa cycle in particular, created between 1984 and 2010, she explores the existential conditions of human life, always with a particular focus on the role of women within communities.

It was not until the mid-1980s that Ruth Baumgarte began to travel intensively to Africa in order to experience the cultural diversity of the continent, but also to bear witness to the profound social and political upheavals. She translated her impressions into color-intensive works that are less documentary than atmospherically condensed - reflections on the rhythm of life, on work and tradition, on transformation and resilience.

A central motif in her work is the woman as the supporting force of the social fabric, often depicted in activities that ensure survival: working in the fields, lighting the fire, preparing food - or, as in this oil painting from 1991, fetching water, one of the elementary tasks that traditionally falls to women.

Like a caryatid, the water bearer rises as a monumental figure in the center of the composition. With an upright gait and raised arms, she stabilizes the jug on her head. A dark stream flows behind her, with a man sitting on the opposite bank - a tense interplay of movement and pause, of presence and distance. The glowing yellow of the vegetation contrasts with the cool gloom of the watercourse, and the dramatic contrasts of light and dark lend the scene an almost surreal intensity.

But the picture is more than just an atmospheric snapshot. It recalls a reality that still affects millions of people today: in many regions of Africa, women and children spend up to twelve hours a day fetching water - a physical and social burden that is deeply rooted in colonial and post-colonial structures. Baumgarte's water carrier is not just a figure of necessity, but an icon of perseverance. She stands for the life-giving power of water, but also for the unwavering strength of the women who carry this burden - literally and metaphorically - in societies that oscillate between tradition and modernity.

Ruth Baumgarte's Africa cycle goes far beyond a painterly approach to a foreign continent. Rather, she develops a deeply felt visual reflection on the tension between tradition and upheaval, on resistance and resilience - a painterly testimony to the existential power inherent in African cultures.