Benkum Art

Half a Turn

A South Sudanese woman wrapped in a long slate-grey cloth and headscarf sits on the ground with her knees drawn up, her thumb on the dial of a small bright yellow radio, in a field fading from charcoal to pale ash between stepped red-earth panels.

Every voice on it is sure. I’m the only one who isn’t.

Her Hands Go First

An older Mosotho woman in a dark shawl presses closed the pin of a bright green Basotho blanket at a young man's shoulder while he stands still, hands at his sides, in a field fading from deep charcoal to warm sandstone pink between pale bone panels.

I could fasten it myself. I let her.

Still Turning

A Liberian woman in a muted indigo lappa and headwrap sits side-on behind a low wooden tray heaped with red scotch bonnet peppers, holding one pepper up between her fingers, still green near the stem, in a field fading from pale bone to warm khaki-brown between umber panels.

Everything on the tray is ready except the one in my hand.