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Mua Murals


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Murals at Chamare Museum

These amazing paintings were found on the out side of the Chamare Museum at Mua Mission
They were painted by Fr. Claude Boucher and Mr. Tambalo in the late 80's early 90's.
Mural 1 Mural 2 Mural 3
This fresco expresses the Chewa emphasis on keeping close to one’s roots and listening to the wisdom of the elders. The Chewa myth of origin and creation on the Kaphirinthiwa hillside expresses the harmony between God, humankind and animals   The Chewa myth of origin and creation portrays the chaos between human and animal, and God’s subsequent withdrawal to the sky on a spider’s web  
Mural 4   Mural 5 Mural 6
The Batwa hunters were the first inhabitants of Malawi.   The Batwa women gather wild fruits and vegetables o nourish their small communities.  The Batwa were the first Malawian artists and creators of numerous rock paintings.  
Mural 7 Mural 8 Mural 9
The first Bantu agriculturists settled in Malawi around 150 AD. They gradually absorbed the Batwa population but Batwa influence on Chewa ritual and institutions has been profound.  Mwali was the spiritual leader of the Banda clan, who settled in Malawi around 900AD. She enters a trance and meets the Lord of the Sky in the form of the mystical snake Thunga in a sacred Malawian pool.   The life of the Band centres on a system of rain shrines and masked dancers called Gule Wamkulu.  

 

 
Mural 10   Mural 11 Mural 12
The Bantu bring knowledge of iron smelting to Malawi, improving agricultural methods and providing new  items for trade.   Tributes are offered to the Banda Shrines to give thanks for the rains. Some of the gifts will be used for distant trade and exchange for other commodities such as salt and corries.   The Phiri a new group of Bantu migrants settles among the Banda around 1400AD under King Karonga. They are matrilineal and are identified with blood, fire and mountains. 
Mural 13 Mural 14 Mural 15
The Phiri migrants gradually supplant and dominate the Banda. Oral traditions describe this development in a political marriage between Mwali and Karonga the leaders of the Banda and the Phiri.  The Banda people react against domination by the Phiri and sacrificed to Thunga the mystical snake and drowned in a sacred pool the Gule Wamkulu.  

 

 The Phiri consolidate power over the Banda by monopolizing their rain shrines and banning the mask dance of the Gule Wamkulu. Ritual burning is wildly practiced and symbolises the expansion of the Phiri’s Maravi state.  
Mural 16 Mural 17 Mural 18
The Mask dance of the Gule Wamkulu becomes a focus of resistance for the Banda, and disrupts Phiri attempts to centralise the Maravi state.   Karonga the king of the Phiri creates new tributary kings to spread the borders of the Maravi Kingdom. Mangochi  

 

 The tributary kings begin withholding tributes and developing independent trade systems. One by one they split off from and weaken the central Maravi kingdom.  
Mural 19   Mural 20 Mural 21
Jumbe, an Arab trader appears in the Kotakota area close to the Maravi capital in 1840. He begins trading in ivory. Karonga is powerless to resist the Islamic and Arabic influences that enter the area.   From 1860, the Arab trader Jumbe switches his trade from ivory to slaves. Every year, dhows ferry more than five thousand slaves across Lake Malawi to be sold to the Sultan of Zanzibar. The Ngoni from Zululand break from the kingdom of Saka and move north across the Zambezi to the Dedza area of Malawi. The Maseko Ngoni constantly raid Chewa villages within the central kingdom of Karonga.  
Mural 22   Mural 23   Mural 24
The rich plantation of Chewa chief Katosa, a promising alternative to the salve trade, inspires Livingstone. The plantation is responsible for the name Mua, which still stands for the area today.   A group of Yao move from Mozambique. Conflicts arise  into wars between Yao and Chewa in the 1870’s. The Yao have the advantage of firearms and rule the area.   In 1875 the Free Church of Scotland’s Livingstonia Mission Party attempted to develop its first mission station at Cape Maclear with Dr. Laws.  

 
Mural 25   Mural 26   Mural 27
The Ngoni face a bitter rivalry between Chikuse, the appointed successor of the paramount Mputa and Chifisi the son of his regent. over them until his death.   The White fathers were the first Catholic missionaries in Malawi. The earliest mission began in Chief Mpond’s village near Mangochi in 1889 but it was abandoned in 1891. The White Fathers are forced to abandon their first mission at Mponda due to war between the chief and his brother Chimgwarugwaru. They leave for Tanzania.
Mural 28   Mural 29   Mural 30  
The Nogoni are plunged into another war of succession in 1891 after the deaths of rivals Chikuse and Chifisi. Their sons Gomani and Kacindamoto battle near Dedza at Mwala wa Mknodo.   The British proclaim their supremacy over Nyasaland in 1891 under the acting governorship of Buchanan.


In 1892 a small standing army of British, Tonga and Ngoni soldiers confront Zarrafi a famous slave trader. Zarrafi is neutralised at Mangochi and the Lake is opened up again to navigation.  
Mural 31   Mural 32   Mural 33  
By 1893 many Ngoni warriors have abandoned their armies, raiding and traditional lifestyle for a more lucrative life on the Shire Highlands plantations. The money economy begins to pacify the land.  

 

 The Nogoni rivals Kachindamoto and Gomani attempt to revive the warrior spirit in their people and clash again at Masasa near Dedza in 1894. The colonial government intervenes and battle is turned into a reconciliation.  

 

 In 1899 the Ngoni leader Kachindamoto is betrayed by his brother Ndini and captured by the British. He commits suicide on the way to court in Zomba. Kacindamoto’s sister Nyaei is chosen to act as regent until her nephew reaches maturity.  

Mural 34  

The White fathers return to Malawi in
September 1902. On 13th September
they pitch their tents by a huge baobab
tree at Mua. The following day they go to
seek permission to establish their mission.

 
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