He is raring to go
IT is now a month after the National Gallery of Zimbabwe ( NGZ) appointed Raphael Chikukwa (RC) as the substantive executive director. Chikukwa took over from Doreen Sibanda, who retired after working for the gallery for many years. Chikukwa was already part of the NGZ, playing a key role in the development of the gallery after joining as chief curator of contemporary art in 2010.
Our senior reporter Tafadzwa Zimoyo (TZ) caught up with Chikukwa and below are excerpts from the interview.
TZ: How do you feel being appointed as the executive director for National Gallery of Zimbabwe?
RC: It is a great honour to have been chosen to lead Zimbabwe’s cultural hub whose history has contributed to the visibility of Zimbabwean modern and contemporary art. The National Gallery of Zimbabwe is a great institution with a sterling history, and leading such an institution humbles me. As its new leader, it is time to reflect on the Covid-19 impact to the cultural landscape and refocus our programming. I am highly appreciative to those who came before me, who contributed immensely to what the gallery is today.
TZ: What new things are you going to implement or tackle that can see the NGZ developing further?
RC: Firstly, I need to build a strong curatorial team and then we can define this new path. It is a path in the middle of this ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, thus we must be mindful of the new normal which is thrusting us towards the adoption of new avenues of programming and exhibition. The new team will augment the existing team that the gallery has across the country, as we look into the future of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in this so-called new normal.
It remains my hope that with the new team joining us, we will map out the whole plan in line with the new reality, although it may be too soon to say much. Together with the new team, our strategy will be clear in collaboration with our Board of Trustees, whose contribution is immeasurable under the helm of our chairman Dr Solomon Guramatunhu.
TZ: Are there any pending issues left by your predecessor that need to be dealt with and how are you going to tackle them?
RC: The repairs of the building are work in progress and are critical. We have to complete them, taking over from where Doreen Sibanda left. She played an important role for the time she served as the executive director of this gallery. I had a privilege of working with Doreen Sibanda first in the 1990s’ during the UNDP Artists Against Poverty project as my superior, and we were reunited again in 2010 until she retired early this year.
This had been a learni ng curve for me, and we have been able to complement each other during her time at the gallery. When I joined the gallery in 2010, I had to learn how to liaise with our parent ministry and Government at large and she taught me all the operations to that dynamic. Coming from working as an independent curator into a Stateaided institution, I had to shift gears, and she had been a pillar in that shift. Her contribution will always be remembered and it is the same team spirit I hope to build as we continue from where she left off. An artist in her own right, it is my hope that she will continue painting and exhibit her work with the gallery in future exhibitions.
TZ: What are you promising to local artists at the NGZ?
RC: With the assembly of a strong curatorial team that will work with the artists, the dance will start from there as we look into the future of the gallery. I have always believed in the work they do and would love to continue the dance with the art sector because we are stronger together as opposed to being divided.
We are in these institutions because of the work they do and as cultural workers we must understand that the process is not going to be easy due to the Covid- 19 pandemic. Artists give birth to the artworks and we are the hub that consumes and shares the artworks with the public.
TZ: How are you going to link the NGZ with other galleries in Africa and the world, so as to help the development of arts on the continent?
RC: It must be understood that as an institution, we do not work in isolation and there is need to seek more collaborations with other art institutions across Africa and the world at large. We meet more in Europe than we meet in Africa, and the need to collaborate within the continent is more urgent than ever, and we can help develop our own sector.
It is a journey that as cultural workers and artists we need to collaborate to travel and we can develop together, not only as artists, but as the NGZ too. The need to grow research and writing on both modern and contemporary African art remains an unfinished business. The National Gallery of Zimbabwe needs to continue as a platform for critical writing for emerging scholars to interrogate and re- examine the old narratives, and archives. There is need to question the old narratives, for our stories have been overlooked for years and it’s time to take ownership and look into the future developments.