Nengi Omuku’s Rabble Rousers (2024) features a group of individuals violently clashing under turquoise trees and a red sky, their animated gestures suggesting an attempt to inflict harm. Onlookers surround the group, some passively watching the scene unfold while others avert their gaze, as one figure drags a tire away from the scene, a powerful symbol of violence and lynchings in many cultures. A gathering of witnesses stands at center left, observing the scene of chaos. This painting sees Omuku draw from the landscape of Perugia, Italy, where she observed the way vines intertwined with trees as if engaged in a silent conversation. “Yet, even in this serene environment,” Omuku explains, “I found myself haunted by flashbacks of conflict, war, and terror that linger in our collective memory.”