Nativity with African Animals

“Malawi is a landlocked country in southeastern Africa. Approximately three-fourths of the population identify as Christian. Artist Van Nyasulu, from Nkhata-Bay, was taught how to carve by his father, Symon Nyasulu, beginning at the age of six. Van trained under Symon until he was fourteen, when his father passed away and he began carving full-time on his own. This Nativity, carved from Afrormosia wood (African teak), depicts the Holy Family beneath a hut. Instead of the traditional ox and donkey familiar from European Nativity scenes, the family is surrounded by animals native to Malawi: an African buffalo, a leopard, a lion, a giraffe, an elephant, and a rhinoceros.” (Ed and Kirsten Gyllenhaal, label text, “World Nativities 2020”)