Malagasy Mourner

The pink outline stretches across the panel and illuminates the rocky ground behind. This is one of Stopforth’s more enigmatic works, but the title provides a key to decoding its symbolism. The central motif of a figure astride a cow and holding its ear is derived from a finial on top of one of the dramatic wooden stelae made by the Mahafaly peoples of Southern Madagascar. These monumental sculptural posts, known as aloalo, are embedded in dense fields of arranged stones which serve as family tombs, into which bodily remains are interred. The term is derived from the word “alo” meaning “messenger,” indicating the importance of these sites for communication with ancestral spirits. Often skulls and horns of the distinctively humped zebo cattle that have been sacrificed during funeral ceremonies are incorporated into these structures, ensuring that they stand out dramatically from the surrounding scrubland alluded to in the background of Stopforth’s composition.