When the Rains Forgot to Fall

“When the Rains Forgot to Fall” is a haunting visual narrative that explores the human cost of global warming through an African lens. Painted on a round canvas, symbolising the earth's continuity and shared responsibility—the composition immerses the viewer in a parched village landscape drenched in hues of burnt orange, red, and brown.

At the centre, two villagers dressed in traditional attire traverse a scorched terrain, burdened with tools and a water vessel—evoking the struggle for survival in a land where rainfall has become scarce. A lone tree with fading foliage and a distant hut hint at the fragility of rural life, while the smoky sky overhead carries an ominous presence.

Above them, a large solemn face ancestral looms in the sky, symbolising the watchful sorrow of those who came before, and perhaps the judgment of nature itself. The face also represents a plea: a silent cry for humanity to heed the warnings of a warming planet.

This piece blends traditional African elements with contemporary environmental urgency, drawing on memory, myth, and the lived experience of climate change. It compels us to remember that for many, global warming is not a distant threat, it is an immediate, lived reality.

This painting is a reflection of my childhood memories growing up in a remote African village, where life depended on the rhythm of the seasons. I remember the sound of distant thunder, the smell of the first rain on dry earth, and the joy it brought to both people and animals alike. Today, those rhythms are broken. Rains come late, or not at all. The land grows weary, and so do its people.

“When the Rains Forgot to Fall” is my way of expressing the silent pain carried by many rural communities who are often forgotten in global conversations about climate change. Through the dry brushstrokes, fading colours, and looming ancestral face, I hope to speak not only of loss, but of resilience, and to remind us all that the earth remembers everything.