Rastafari in the Visual Arts and Symbolisms

A brilliant example of this Conquering Lion/Selassie imagery can be seen on the following page. This painting is also one that is viewed from outdoors; it is painted on the door to a t-shirt shop in Jamaica. The elaborately detailed piece combines several different themes of Rastafari, the two major ones being Haile Selassie and the Conquering Lion. Selassie sits on the lion's back with hands placed on an image of the earth; his hands frame the continent of Africa, the motherland to the Rastafarians, the home of their ancestors and the home of their god. In Selassie's arms sits a lamb whose eyes, like the lion's, seem to stare at the observer. This lamb symbolism is reminiscent of early Christian and Byzantine art, specifically mosaics. Jesus was often portrayed as a shepard, the sheep being representative of the population; as the shepard tends his flock, so Jah watches over all of us. Another detail of this painting that conveys a powerful message is the image of the African woman being protected by the crouching lion. The lion appears to be licking or grooming the woman while she reaches up to stroke his mane. This correlation is representative of the relationship between man and woman in the Rastafarian communities prior to the 1980's. As mentioned before, the Rasta movement is made up of mostly men, and they believe in the superiority of the male gender; in fact, many Rastafarian women also believe in male superiority (Barrett, 209). Female Rastas have become much more common since the 1980's, but prior to that time they were usually followers of their husbands, and rarely were there single Rastafarian women (Barrett, 241). The image of lion and woman shows the protection given from the Rastaman to his wife. It, like the wood carving, also shows both sides of the Rastaman, the rough, fearsome exterior, and the loving, protecting interior.

A second example of the Conquering Lion/Selassie imagery is the beautiful wall-painting of Selassie and his queen, with a lion in the center. This painting, which can be viewed on the following page, is strikingly similar to the images of Selassie and his queen painted on the side of"Irie's Vegetarian Delight". In fact, both works are signed, and although the signature on the"Last Supper"piece is difficult to make out, it seems to be the same artist. The faces and royal clothing of Selassie and his queen are almost identical, as is the lion. Most of the symbolism is also the same, with the exception of the rainbow seen behind Selassie which appears to contain only the colors red, green, and gold. Another exception is the large, single eye at the peak of the rainbow; this symbolism will be discussed later. In this composition, as in the previous one, the lion's eyes seem to be staring at the observer; this is also true of Selassie's eyes and the singular eye that appears above. This phenomenon is perhaps one of the most amazing capabilities an artist has; the ability to create eye contact between the viewer and the painting. For those members of the Rastafarian religion, this painting must be incredibly powerful and emotionally moving.

ADVERTISEMENT:

One symbol used by the Rastafarians in their artwork that has a less powerful meaning, but is used just as often as the other symbols mentioned, is the star of Solomon. This is the same star that is used quite often to represent the religion of Judaism. All biblical ties the Rastafarians claim are through the blood of King Solomon, who is an important character in the Bible. The ganja that they smoke ritually first grew out of the grave of King Solomon, which is why the weed is so sacred to the Rastas. A classic example of the use of the star of Solomon is on the following page. This drawing, which appears to be done in colored pencil, can be found in Millard Faristzaddi's Itations of Jamaicans and I Rastafari-The First Itation, and since it does not indicate the artist, I will assume it is that of the author. The composition contains two overlapping stars in the upper right-hand corner, with a hexagon in the center of the stars. Inside the hexagon is the traditional shape of a heart, and within the heart, the letters"HIM"; from the letter"I"shoots a prism-like beam of red, gold, and green. These letters are not representative of the word"him", they stand for"His Imperial Majesty", another reference to one of Haile Selassie's many titles. But what is most interesting about this piece is the biblical quote that goes with it, found in the bottom left-hand portion of the drawing:"it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God". If one looks closely at the letter"I", the correlation between the quote from St. Matthew and the artistic representation becomes clear: the letter"I"is also a sewing needle, and it is from the"eye"of the needle that the Rastafarian colors stream. Altogether this drawing shows the Blackheart (another name for Rastas), within the star of King Solomon, inside the Rastaman's heart is his god, His Imperial Majesty, Ras Tafari, Selassie I. The beam of red, gold, and green directs the viewer's eye to the"eye"of the"I", and again we have this sort of spiritual contact with the artwork that can be experienced by anyone, even if they are not Rastafarian.