Helen Sebidi: Tears of Africa (1988) This work is done in charcoal. The animals in Sebidi's works are used as symbols of certain aspects of human nature. Sebidi explains that in the Garden of God animals were there first and therefore the animals taught the people. "In our culture, we don't say a thing straight out - if you are having a hard life, we won't call your life bad, we will go around, we will say 'You are fighting with an animal, and if you catch his tongue then you will come right.'" This painting shows how someone literally catches the tongue of an animal.