Notes

Since her first visit to Zanzibar in 1939, Irma Stern was captivated by its peoples and cultures. On a second visit in 1945 she captured this bustling market in gouache, the perfect medium with which to convey the immediacy of her experience. Dramatic diagonals of the roofs lead the eye into the busy alley-way. The draped heads and colourful clothes create visual stimulation, drawing attention and inviting us to follow the throng into the market. Overhead the green palms and blue skies signal the exotic location.

In her book on Zanzibar, Stern provided graphic descriptions of the markets there:
The streets in the Bazaar are built so narrow as a protection against the severe sun; but also in the old times, they used the neighbouring houses to save scaffolding in constructing the new houses. When a rickshaw passes through the narrow streets people have to press their bodies onto the walls of the houses. ...
The market was a large noisy place of open booths with all the vegetables and fruits piled up into small heaps laid out on wooden planks, forming a terrace crowned by the owner of the stall, squatting amongst his goods.¹

Stern goes on to describe the fruits in great detail, giving their local names, describing their colours and size and even speculating on their weight, making it evident how much she enjoyed observing the place and its people, shopping for food and even providing tips on bargaining with the vendors. Zanzibar Market evokes the thrill of market shopping for fresh goods and bargains, a source of great sensual pleasure for as many today as it was then for the artist.
1. Irma Stern, Zanzibar, J L Van Schaik Ltd, Pretoria, 1948, page 21.