THE AFRICAN INSPIRATIONS ART EXHIBITION WAS TRULY INSPIRATIONAL
TThere were the sculptors, there were the painters, there were the sketch artists. There was abstract art in its representational object form to the non-object abstract creation. The Exhibition opened around 18 hours on Friday to the sound and drumming of traditional music with patriotic zealotry and “chikanda.” If there was a second best attraction for those present, it was this, the Bemba-originated sumptuous culinary seemed to be the food of choice for the evening. It was fit for the purpose, the music, the food and the majority of artefacts made for that joyous linkage. It was a night of reminders that Zambia has a lot to offer in terms of our culture and art. Ever keen to see how the event was carrying on, I looked around and I saw a number of familiar faces, but there was also a familiar face perfectly adorning the artefacts. Godylocks Arts Proprietor Godfridah Kapwele, who is one of the exhibitors took a different tact when amongst the artefact she was exhibiting was a drawing of Mr. Clive Shamwana, the captain of Lusaka Golf Club. The drawing was uniquely on point. This was perhaps, not a bad investment given the surprising speed at which it was picked up. It was one of the first sales for the night. There were several other attractive things about this particular African Inspirations Art Exhibition. The lighting was good, making it easy to see the contours of the art pieces. The arrangement was excellent enabling a personal clear reflection of where the art fitted in our own worlds. The pricing was relevant enabling those with as little pocket money as myself to admire the pieces not just from a cursory look, but with invented glee. There was a price for every budget. As much as this art exhibition provided a forum for the artist to showcase the talent, I was keen to see the first exhibitors, the talented art students, in terms of how they faired, in terms of how they hobnobbed and competed with already established talents. It was not disappointing. They were a huge hit. As an example, Beverly Muumba’s Collateral Friendship, an Acrylic on Canvas art painting. It was a super hit and perhaps priced lower than it deserved and had a lot of takers resulting in some form of an auction for the piece. It is a painting that one would attach to the professionals, the legends, the veterans. It made a splash and I couldn’t help think, what a talent. This art exhibition also brought on board Ms. Katwishi Tayali, the daughter of a legendary art superstar of Zambia, the late Henry Tayali. Katwishi is soft-spoken, mildly shy, but an extremely talented painter who has mastered a rare skill of combining colours to make very attractive art pieces. Katwishi’s talent stands on its own. She may have come onto this exhibition with a famous name, but if the interest in her art pieces was anything to go by, she is curving her niche that can stand apart, beyond the name that comes with having a famous father. By the time, I checked in on Saturday, she was doing very well with the sales. But if there was an icing for this evening, the comments from the Minister of Tourism, Mr Charles Banda was encouraging for the artists. This was the second occasion he had of opening the African Inspirations Art Exhibition having also opened the event in November last year. The Minister noted that the government had recognised the creative industries sector as an important avenue for employment and wealth creation and therefore the Ministry of Tourism and Arts is focusing on arts and culture to increase the number of tourism products in the country. The Minister noted that the programmes such as this art exhibition, were key to the tourism industry. He noted that in fact President Edgar Lungu’s address to the second session of the 12th National Assembly encouraged Zambians to demonstrate patriotism through “buying Zambian products” to help with the growth of our local industries and thereby creating the much-needed jobs for our people, the artists in this case. In closing, the Minister indicated that President Lungu had urged all institutions at home and abroad to buy and display indigenous artefacts to promote Zambia’s identity. In this pronouncement, the President had directed the Ministries of Tourism and Arts, Foreign Affairs and Chiefs and Traditional Affairs to play a leading role in this. In this vein, Mr Banda did promise to convene a meeting with the organising committee of African Art Inspirations and other stakeholders to discuss how this can be achieved in the shortest possible. Amplifying on this message, which was sure to be music to the participating artist, the oganising chairman, Mr. Aaron Chungu, thanked the government for this gesture and re-emphasised that the number of public places that need to be adorned with Zambian art are many. “Time is now ripe to take advantage and broaden the local market for our artists, especially that there is a major transformation in the number of new office complexes, shopping malls and airports which are all strategic places to showcase our art. These places all need to be decorated with our local arte-facts instead of those foreign pictures which we see displayed in most of our buildings” Mr. Chungu noted. And this is important, if the Minister’s pledge can be actualised there is much for the Zambian artist to benefit. As a short count, there are the Zambian airports, ‘Livingstone airport, Kenneth Kaunda Airport and Ndola Airport’ whose walls are yearning for Zambian Art. There are embassies in various cities around the world, there are shopping malls that are sprouting every day. There are new government ministries that are being built from Lusaka to Choma. There are new universities and hospitals. All those are opportunities for the artists to be involved in beautifying Zambia, but perhaps of importance, making Zambia unique. Having noted this point, it must be made clear that this cannot be said to be a charitable almsgiving from those looking for art to the artists. There is value waiting to be harvested. The UK’s The Centre for Economics and Business Research Ltd (2013) in their report, the contribution of the arts and culture to the national economy’ reported the following: That there is anecdotal evidence to suggest that house prices can be expected to be higher in localities with higher concentrations of the arts and culture and to rise where investment in the arts and culture has just taken place.” Further, this report noted as follows, “The most successful cities tend to be distinctive, with niche economic sectors and unique characteristics. Distinguishing features help to attract people and businesses, attracting attention and adding value through the benefits of association. The ambiance of exclusivity and distinctiveness created by a city with a strong offer in the arts and culture could even influence the way consumers view products of that city, leading them to attach additional value to them. Media ‘buzz’ can play a role in developing these associations.” Obviously, the opening night also suggested one thing, the objectives of the African Inspirations Art Exhibition which include helping local artists in creating a platform through which they could use to market their arte-facts as well as create more awareness and interest in the Zambian art within the country and for our visitors is not a pipedream. If evidence from the ongoing African Inspirations Art Exhibition is anything to go by, there is enough interest in art from the Zambian who was previously considered a non-traditional buyer. In those days, the art buyers were either Zambians of Western origins or Westerners, this African Inspirations Art Exhibition showed the inverse. I was also keenly observing the Mr. Chungu during this entire event to get the undertone sentiments around the direction of the event on an opening day. I was also keenly aware that at the launch of the African Inspirations Art Exhibition 2018 on 13th March 2018, Mr. Aaron Chungu had noted that the holding of the art exhibition at the time the Golf fraternity was hosting a major international event, “the ZANACO Masters” was a plus to the artist. He had said in thanking Lusaka Golf Club that it would avail an opportunity to the local artists to showcase their talents to the many foreign and local visitors, who will not only watch the golf tournament but would also take time to view our arte-facts. At that time, he had said: “It is through such international events that would make it possible to expose our artists to both the local and foreign markets.” He didn’t seem unhappy about the outturn. In fact, Mr. Chungu noted that the first day of this event had created more art sales than the previous event in November 2017. He also noted that as this exhibition which was also designed to encourage the corporate world to be in the forefront of developing partnerships with the artists had also achieved this goal based on the networking occurring by members of the corporate world with the artists. The event continues for another week at Lusaka Golf Club. You can go and see for yourself why the Art Exhibition is truly Inspirational, an art gem at the Golf Club.