ARTS: TAVATOSE/SISONKE EXHIBITION: CELEBRATION TIME:
THE National Gallery of Zimbabwe (NGZ) in partnership with the Environmental Management Agency will this year host another edition of the Tavatose/Sisonke 2017 Schools Visual Art Exhibition under the theme “Celebration Time!” — with the environment in mind.
The show is scheduled to run from June 3-20 at the NGZ. Tavatose/Sisonke meaning “we are now together”, is a show based on unity and brings pupils of different backgrounds together to express themselves through art.
This year’s exhibition aims to promote creative talent from a young age and celebrate our artistic heritage as well as the fact that there has been a greater motivation for art to be introduced and recognised as an imperative subject in schools. In addition, the exhibition encourages visual literacy amongst children whilst focusing on enjoyment and building confidence in their artistic and creative expression.
Through this there is the hope that this will enhance entrepreneurial skills, creativity, problem solving and lifelong learning in art will also be enhanced.
“The NGZ turns 60 this year, and the entire year will be one of celebration and introspection. As a result, we would like our annual schools art competition to encourage young people to celebrate various elements in life”, said the NGZ Education Officer Mr Akim Nyakudya.
“Additionally, in sync with the new education curriculum, we are ready to play a role in transformation through the arts by acting as a resource centre, providing in-service teacher training workshops, teacher resource packs, art teacher in residence programmes while being a platform for school children to exhibit artworks in a professional gallery with access to the wider community and exposure to the real art world outside the classroom,” added Nyakudya
This exhibition comes at a time when the Government of Zimbabwe has introduced a new education curriculum which supports Arts Education from a very early age. The new junior school visual and performance arts curriculum covers theoretical and practical activities in the areas of sculpting, graphic design, painting, photography, dance, theatre, music, poetry, storytelling and puppetry.
The secondary school syllabus focuses on covering areas such as the History of Art and Cultural Dynamics, Creative Process and Art making, Aesthetics Awareness and Appreciation, Art and Technology, and The Business of Art. The Tavatose/ Sisonke Exhibition facilitates artistic understanding that can serve as a source of socio -economic empowerment for Zimbabwean youth.
The Arts contribute a lot to the political, socio-economic and cultural development of Zimbabwe hence it is very important that they have been made part and parcel of the education system for their potential to be effectively harnessed. The arts can also provide us with problem-solving skills in issues such as waste management, innovative mind-sets, communicative attitudes and inspiration, therefore it is essential that Art institutions in Zimbabwe play a major role in supporting the new Arts Curriculum. Over and above this the arts can produce sustainability skills if tertiary education is not an option and can interrogate the creative industries which includes but not centred to social media, fashion, media and design.
The Diamond Jubilee celebration at the National Gallery coincides with the 10th Anniversary celebration at the Environmental Management Agency (EMA). This presents a perfect opportunity to celebrate our artistic heritage, and the environment that shapes it. The Partnership between the NGZ and the EMA also brings forth a new dimension in the schools visual arts exhibition funding matrix, enabling many school children from across Zimbabwe’s ten provinces to lend their voices to the discourse of sustainable society through visual narratives while improving their artistic skills.
“This exhibition is an important educational tool for raising awareness on good environmental practice. For the previous edition we were focusing on the negative effects of environmental mismanagement, but this year as we are celebrating we expect students to depict an ideal environment that showcases good environmental practices”, said the Education and publicity officer at EMA Mr Leon Mutungamiri.
This exhibition is an open call to all students from pre-school to senior school to submit their artworks in relation to the theme. Artworks for the 2017 Schools Art Exhibition should be submitted in two dimensional works, that is drawings, painting, collage and printmaking and three dimensional works which include sculpture, ceramics and construction.
All artworks must have the name of artist, school, province, teacher, phone number, email address as well as the price if for sale. Entry fee for each artwork is a dollar ($1).
The competition will first run regionally. In the Northern Region it will run from May 18-19 at the Gallery in Harare, Southern Region from May 15-19 and the Eastern Region from March 31 to April25 at Mutare Gallery. Selected artworks will be exhibited in the National Exhibition from June 3-20 at the National Gallery.
All artworks for the National Exhibition must be in Harare by May 24. Selection and adjudication for the National exhibition will take place on May 25.
“This year we expect to reach out to other districts that have not been able to participate in the schools exhibitions. We have seven districts and Mutasa and Mutare are the districts that have participated in previous exhibitions. This year we held some workshops and we have added Buhera, we would love to see more districts participate,” said the director at Mutare Gallery Ms Elizabeth Muusha.
Students are encouraged to create work that reflects on the competition theme Celebration Time. So as to unlock the artistic talent in the young generation several themes were provided to all the school children and students, who have been divided into three categories.
The sub themes for each category are Party time (Early childhood; preschool- grade 2), Celebrate Traditions (Juniors grades 3 to seven) and Celebrate Our Earth (seniors form one to six).
These targets will provide topics for the students to select. Once a topic is selected, students will be free to create art work executed in any media such as pencil, ink, watercolour and charcoal.
This is the fourth edition of the School Art Exhibition and last year’s ran under the theme “Waste no Waste, Waste is Treasure”
The exhibition featured 398 artworks from six provinces. These exhibitions aim to develop a greater awareness of the importance of keeping the environment clean; developing awareness at an early age around issues of improper handling of waste and its risks to the environment and human health and awareness of how recycled waste can contribute to sustainable development. ◆ For more information regarding Tavatose/ Sisonke Schools Visual Art Exhibition 2017 contact :The Education Officer on 04 704666/7 ext 30. You can also email anyakudya@nationalgallery. co.zw or akimnyakudya9@ gmail.com