The last painting I remember painting was a parrot
No, the irony is not lost on me
Nor is the aftermath of repeatedly being asked for my ‘skin-colour’ Monami
I hated that Monami, and that Monami hated me
So this parrot was alright, pretty enough
Colourful enough
But I wasn’t Coloured enough
And also nowhere near pretty
Because I was Black, too
(It’s what Coloureds won’t tell you)
(Until they tell you)
And when I became pretty
I hadn’t changed much
My hair was always straight anyway
Then my boobs came in
And men called me beautiful
And my women would shame me to starve
And I smiled because all I wanted to do
Was to be the prettiest parrot
Someone who could love me had ever seen.
Maybe I stopped painting,
To deal with what it all means.
Commissioned by Nabeeha Mohamed for her solo exhibition with SMITH gallery ‘sunshine on my skin is my favourite colour’, February, 20, 2020.
Misha Krynauw is a nonbinary art and creative writer from Cape Town, South Africa. Their debut theatre script "The Infinite Woman" premiered at the Suidoosterfees Festival in May 2021 following their residency at the Paulet House as a part of the Jong Sterre Mentorship Program in the previous year. Their original creative writing has been published nationally and internationally online and in print, and since June, 2018 they have been contributing as an art writer for Artthrob, which was founded by Sue Williamson in August 1997 writing features, reviews and conducting interviews for the publication. They were awarded a curatorial internship at Greatmore Studios in 2020 with the Presidential Stimulus Program; selected as one of 12 aspiring curators for A4 Art Foundation's Curatorial Connective of 2021 and was most recently awarded a scholarship to attend Lolwe's 2022 Novel Generation Class taught by multi-award-winning writer Mubanga Kalimamukwento. Using writing as the foundation for their pursuits they appreciate a creative approach to the duties of archival, research and memory-making processes as a part of their intersecting interests in the arts.
