Mzembi receives sculpture
TOURISM and Hospitality Industry Minister Dr Walter Mzembi was yesterday presented with a sculpture by renowned sculptor, Dominic Benhura, that will be auctioned in the United States of America.
The sculpture was done in commemoration of the International Day of the Girl Child and proceeds of the sale will support various girls activities in the country.
Speaking at the handover ceremony, Dr Mzembi said as a candidate of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) secretary-general’s post, he was leveraging every opportunity to give visibility to Zimbabwe.
“One of my exploits as I go campaigning for the position of UNWTO secretary-general, I bump into occasions that can leverage for the benefit of raising the profile of brand Zimbabwe,” he said
“I promised to source a donation of a sculpture from Zimbabwe, which will be auctioned on the October 24. It is a high powered event to be presided over by the Democratic Party former speaker of the House of Assembly Nancy Pelosi and former secretary of state Madeleine Albright.”
“The sculpture will receive unparalleled recognition likely to result in the opening up of doors and new markets in USA, so I chose one of our best sculptors to create a sculpture which will symbolise our entry into the United States.”
Minister Mzembi said his ministry was implementing an initiative that would give a sense of ownership to Zimbabwean sculptures going abroad.
“There are many of our sculptures in the USA, particularly the city of Atlanta that go largely unacknowledged in terms of their source. They are just distributed into the USA without any patent or trademark,” said Minister Mzembi.
“We want to start an initiative that will give a sense of ownership in terms of intellectual property to our people and will begin that exercise through Dominic Benhura.”
Speaking to journalists after the ceremony, Benhura said the sculpture was also in commemoration of the International Day of the Girl Child.
“The sculpture is also in commemoration of the International Day of the Girl Child and the project funds will also benefit the girl child,” said Benhura.
“I was asked to make a sculpture and I decided to create one of a woman with a book because if you teach a woman you will have taught the world and I also named the sculpture ‘knowledge is power’.”
Benhura said he used a stone called springstone and semi-granite stone called mega stone, which he usually uses for big sculptures.