SHOWCASING THE GOLDMINE OF ART WITH THE AFRICAN INSPIRATION AT LUSAKA GOLF CLUB
THE African Inspiration will again be staging an art exhibition at the Lusaka Golf from the April 6 – 16, 2018 to 16th April 2018 showcasing the rich artistry talent latent in Zambia.
This time around, instead of only one lady, Ms. Agnes Buya Yombwe from last year exhibiting, five female artists will be exhibiting.
This includes Ms. Katwishi Tayali, the daughter of legendary artist Henry Tayali, Ms. Godfridah M Kapwele an artist specialised in drawing, crafts, and painting, Ms. Beverly Muumba, an upcoming young artist pursuing Art and English at Evelyn Hone College, Ms. Lesley Musonda who has already held two solo art exhibitions in 2015 and 2017.
Finally, there is Ms. Nukwase Tembo, who believes that art is more than a form of expression, that it is a way of life.
The African Inspiration is a home-grown art promotion initiative by renowned local artists, seeking avenues for the promotion of visual art as a business enterprise with the sole objective of spurring artists beyond those exhibiting to aspire for more excellence in their work.
The primary goal of the African Inspiration is making Zambia art attain its deserved position in the nation's entrepreneurial space as a depository of quality assets of international value.
In November 2017, the African Inspiration staged its first art event at Lusaka Golf Club following a 15-year hiatus. It was staged as a four-day event that in the end was extended to 10 days.
It was an exhibition of around 200 art pieces, diverse, intriguing and in their element, Zambian. The air at the Lusaka Golf Club for those three days was rich, rich in atmosphere and feel, rich in reach. It was evident that golf and art do bring truly synergetic experiences.
More so, with golf, because in the time between the scoreboards, in the time between golf and lunch, those mid-term breaks when distraction is essential art fills the void.
Those times when you are tempted to look elsewhere to capture another interesting feel, the culture, the buzz, if only, but for those moments.
Those are the moments that the African Inspiration art exhibition is meant to fill to help capture the Zambian experience. Those moments have been brought closer to the front lines of an international golf event.
The art show will run parallel to the ZANACO Master 2018 and will mark a renewed shift to the way that art is organised. It will resume the journey started last October 2017 to enmesh the golf and art.
Last year, it was enormously reassuring that the African Inspirations art exhibition brought so much positivity about art to light. From what we saw, indications were that the core theme by the African Inspirations of promoting Zambian visual art into an entrepreneurial enterprise is a goal that can be realised with these type of events being organised.
What will one find? There is a trove of a variety of art, history, and culture to sample in the midst of Lusaka heartland, at the intersection of the crossroads of societies.
There is the young and the esteemed artist specialised in sculpture, representational art, abstract, the original and peculiar mix of styles, cultures, and traditions.
There is a perfect blend of flairs in its architecture: from Mr. Lawrence Yombwe, who has developed a unique technique; working with rudimentary materials such as sackcloth to Mr. Eddie Mumba, who is a well-known sculptor with talents extending into music.
From Mr. Vincentio Phiri, who came onto the art scene in the 70's and is a self-taught artist who specialises in abstract art similar to Jackson Pollock's style of painting to Mr. Rabson Phiri who features an ingenious use of scrap metal that comprises mainly car and bicycle parts.
From Mr. Victor Makashi with over 40 years profile as an artist participating in several local, regional and international exhibitions and as an art administrator from 1981 to 2017 to Arthur Ziggy Daka, an emerging sculptor who often works with hard stones which he blends into a single sculpture.
There is everything being showcased from representational to abstract to art conveying ideas, fears, feelings, problems, and hopes. There will be art exhibited that will bring hope; there will also be that which bring awe and draw attention, and most of all for the golf enthusiast, there will be elements just to share memories.
What is, even more, is that if the event has shown growth in the numbers of ladies attending, it is perhaps much more refreshing to see that the African Inspi- ration event which brought together 12 artists last November 2017 will this time around bring 20 artists to showcase their talents. It is expected in those two weeks that Lusaka Golf Club will be adorned with several artefacts that the corporate and individual collectors will find and reap real value in the collections.
The Lusaka Golf Club with its eclectic buildings stand as a real melting pot with a charming grass expanse scattered like a valley at the foot of the hill stands as the best spot to sample the art. Lusaka Golf Club has carved out a niche for itself as a central venue for such leisured kinds of events. It is elegant and yet ideally laid back enough place to combine both art and golf leisure. Having noted these points, it is also necessary to admit that art is still in its infancy in terms of promotion in Zambia. However, art can make Zambia the destination of envy, and it will be important for the generations of Zambians to come.
So do we make this a reality, we start by attracting the valuable multitudes of art enthusiasts to look south at the gaping opportunities of art promise that sit in Zambia. While it must be recognised that to make the art industry successful, the corporate world must be involved as a partner, to promote and to be a consumer on its own, there is a yearning need to find innovative ways to promote art.
The African Inspiration in combining art with golf is presenting a new different take of organising art exhibition and if they succeed in making this crossbreed, it will be a great day for Art as the next big business.
That is why the Industry Corner has featured this event prominently since its re-emergence so that we are part of the development of synergies to make the Zambian destination, a tourist magnet for the arts.
We would like to be in the forefront of showing why coming to Zambia is essential, why Zambia as a bastion of democracy, is a place waiting to be discovered, and that we are more than equal to the attractions that our neighbours present. We must recognise that the economic spills over effects are real and that the development of art can be central to the engagement of communities productively.
It is necessary to say that a lot of people do wish for art to blossom and realise its potential but it is never enough to wish for something, we must be willing to make it happen. And with an engaged team willing to think beyond the margins of belief, with an engaged team of people willing to support art by crafting distinctive, new experiences, an attractive environment, and atmosphere that people can be drawn to, we can generate traffic to this country in droves and add to the local economy.
The organisation of a successful art exhibition is no small matter and that is why it is good to see that the Zambia Golf Club has once again shown significant confidence in the African Inspiration outfit and has this time greenlighted it to host during one of their pre-eminent international events.
What is the significance of this? By its nature, this April 2018 promises a much bigger platform for the artists with the natural artist enthusiast flocking to Lusaka Golf Club to see the art, at the same time with the international golf audience. It promises to make the event as memorable, not just about golf but art.
My philosophy has always been that it is not enough to want corporates involvement in the art industry, the art promoters must show the corporate world that they are missing something. That there is good in art, that there are synergies that business and art can create. This event certainly holds that promise.
In conclusion, the 10 days of art exhibition is here and yet again to demonstrate that they are true synergies that can be harnessed even in activities that seem at variance. And if the past is the barometer of measurement, the verdict is that this will be yet another success.
Last year showed that the resumption of the African Inspirations art exhibition is bringing so much positivity about art to light. From what we have seen so far there are indications that the core theme of the African Inspirations of promoting Zambian visual art into an entrepreneurial enterprise is achievable.
*About the author: Kelvin Chungu is an Assurance and Advisory professional and is contactable on +260976377484.
The art show will run parallel to the ZANACO Master 2018 and will mark a renewed shift to the way that art is organised. It will resume the journey started last October 2017 to enmesh the golf and art.