MOZAMBIQUE - Reinata Sadimba Passema (b.1945) was born in the province of Cabo del Gado, a rural Makonde area in northern Mozambique. From an early age she learned the art of pottery making from her mother. Her first pieces were utilitarian, but after the breakup of a reputedly abusive marriage, Reinata tired of doing the same pots over and over and began adding her own embellishments to the pieces. Inspired by Makonde designs and spirits, her vessels started growing into amazing creatures and figures. She received important support from Augusto Cabral, Director of Mozambique’s Natural History Museum who offered her studio space on the museum grounds when she moved to the capital, Maputo, during the civil war in the 1980s. Hailed as a visionary, she now creates ceramic sculpture at a feverish pace, never discouraged when a piece breaks during firing, and always creating imaginative new structures. Here we have one example of her earlier period and two recent creations. The large coiled water vessel is beautifully incised and burnished with decorative motifs. Her transformation piece, made in 1998, shows the essence of womanhood, combining birthing, with the child’s head emanating from her stomach, and mothering, with children representing continuation of the lineage. This strong, determined woman has two external treatments, one side is texturally crusty while the other is elegantly designed with Makonde scarification, indicating her origin as mother earth and her place within Reinata’s ethnic heritage. The unfired woman with three arms and one leg was created in June, 2000, when Reinata visited Washington, D.C., after participating in UNIFEM’s “Progress of the World’s Women” exhibition in New York City.