Moz-African Cosmology of Healing Plants
Dilayla Romeo's project "Moz-African Cosmology" is a mesmerizing exploration of the intersection between art, culture, and nature. Through a series of abstract photographs crafted from natural inks derived from medicinal plants, Romeo invites viewers into a realm where imagination transcends boundaries. Each image unveils a dreamlike universe pulsating with vibrant colors and intricate shapes, offering a glimpse into the profound relationship between the Mozambican people and the cosmos.
My journey with plant medicine really started during covid, I was doing a lot of work with the plants and just beginning my journey with herbalism. It has evolved more and more since then, I have learned so much from the plants, letting them be my guides in this process, and welcomed the many changes that came with this. My diet has changed- I started using more plants, medicines and sources, in my food, on my skin- I wanted to be more connected to nature in my day to day practice.
In African cosmology, the perception of the universe can be arranged visually in an isosceles triangle at whose vertex resides the divine Creative Force, at the base the spirits of the ancestors and in the center, where everything converges, the human being. Precisely because of this anthropocentric vision, in the Afri- can spiritual tradition the human being is in perpetual contact both with the Creative Force and with the ancestral forces, and dialogue is possible at every moment of life.
When I first began working on the Moz-African cosmologies series, I was doing research on various different African spiritual cosmologies at the time. The name came to me, especially when looking at these images and what I was able to see in them, especially after I had really connected during the creative process.I really started to work a lot more with post-production and photoshop- it was a sort of form of play for me, to experiment with new forms of image-making and alternative processing- away from the more traditional type of photography I had been trained to do.
I created the images using plant powders- which you can find here at the mercado. They come in all different beautiful colors, and I have always been curious about these powders. I don’t exactly know which plants the powders are from as I wasn’t exactly able to get clarity on what plants they come from when I spoke to the vendor.
Once I had the plant powders in all these different colors, I mixed them with water and plant oils, the same oil that I use on my body. As I was creating the images, I was also meditating and engaging in a personal spiritual ritual, calling to my ancestors and letting their messages come to me- a sort of channeling. You can see in one of the images, the shape of Africa, but also what looks like a fetus, a baby. It was so striking to me because as I was creating these images, I was channeling my inner child and connecting to her.
One of the images produced by Dilayla, in which the shape of Africa can be distinguished, along with what resembles the form of a fetus.
Now, I have my spiritual practice, my altar, my rituals. Having this practice in my personal life also allowed me to bring it into my photography practice. Ever since I started having my own spiritual practice, of connecting deeply with my ancestors and letting them guide me, I began to see lots of changes in my life. I felt more grounded, less anxious. I felt more at ease, guided. This is a very important practice for me- and it extends beyond the personal and into my photography practice.
MozAfrican Cosmologies was featured in an expo in Italy, and during the expo someone actually came up to me, and as we were talking, they told me that they could see a heart- a human heart. I smiled, knowing that I too had seen the heart I had also manifested that heart in my creation. This series represents a visual representation of my personal vision of Mozambican ancestral linkages and of the traditional activities transmitted orally from generation to generation by the elderly: such as the use of magic, through which medicinal herbs, divination, amulets and various natural elements they can offer sacred protection to those who turn to them.
"African cosmology is the way in which Africans perceive, conceive and contemplate their universe; the lens through which they see reality, which influences their value system and their attitudinal orientations. It is the African search for meaning of the life".
(I.A. Kanu, 2013)
