EXCITING ERA FOR ZIMBABWEAN ARTISTS:
Zimbabwe has had a thriving modern art scene for close to a century. Much of Zimbabwean art history can be read primarily as dialectic between the artistic visions of the artists themselves and their desire to realistically depict the world around them.
IT IS now more than ever that Zimbabwe an artists have increasingly begun to explore local and most importantly international art platforms. They illustrate the significance of art not only in disseminating Zimbabwean culture and heritage but changing the international discourse on the country.
The mass appeal of biennials, residencies, art fairs, music fairs, fi lm festivals and fashion and design shows has given a massive boost to many of these creatives.
2017 kick started on a high note as young and upcoming designer Tafadzwa Moyo made headlines and history as the fi rst Zimbabwean to represent Zimbabwe at the prestigious International Fashion Showcase held at Somerset House in London.
The fashion event which gathers emerging designers across 28 countries is in its sixth edition, and for the fi rst time, Zimbabwe was represented.
Tafadzwa started his career in 2005 and he had his mother, who worked as a tailor, a source of inspiration to him.
Kidd Hunta, Tafadzwa’s fashion line, was started in 2015, and the project has continued to grow since its inception.
Fashion shows are an art form that is shaped by its surroundings: the rhythms of nature, climate, cultural memory, social change and historical shift s refl ected in silhouettes, techniques and materials.
Meanwhile the outstanding and success stories have not only been limited to the fashion and design arts sector.
Admire Kamudzengerere, a visual contemporary artist, will have his fi rst solo exhibition titled “I’m gonna . . . you” in New York at Cantinca Tabacaru Gallery.
Kamudzengerere’s exhibition tackles issues of identity, migration and family the three inseparable forces that control his ability and choice to move around the world.
Th is new work consumed with the idea of self-confrontation with the mul- tiple is faithful to an older governing principle of his practice where he uses numbers.
Kamudzengerere is also one of the four artists set to represent the country at the 57th International Art Exhibition at La Biennale di Venezia.
The past year was also characterised with Zimbabwean visual artists storming art fairs in South Africa.
The FNB Jo’burg Art Fair and Cape Town Art Fair included a high number of local artists. It was an opportunity for them to off er an insight into the varied facets of the country’s socio-cultural milieu and our artistic faculty.
The representation of selected artists has a national and practical significance in that it provides an outlet for analysis and discourse on local art and culture outside of our borders.
Several South African and a British gallery proudly displayed Zimbabwean artists including Masimba Hwati, Virginia Chihota, Moffat Takadiwa, Misheck Masamvu, Chikonzero Chazunguza and Kudzanai Chiurai.
The growing body of contemporary artists is now making a great impact on regional and international art circuits clearly illustrating the diplomatic significance of visual art for regional integration and the bridging of race relations, cultures and histories.
These homecoming artists do much more than present great art in this instance as they protect the emerging talent that is being developed in the several institutions.
With the stimulation and drive to create catechistic artwork that serves the purpose of objectively existing for its own state and beyond, stimulating inward looking thought for the viewer is high on the agenda of these artists.
Continuing Zimbabwe’s run of garnering international attention through poignant bodies of work and substantial analysis of themes, late last year Gareth Nyandoro scooped the Financial Times and Oppenheimer Funds Emerging Voices Awards. His vivid, abstract depictions of commercial life in Harare earned him international recognition.
His canvases depicted the ephemera of everyday life, a pair of shoes, a bicycle, a rail of clothes, objects so familiar that they have become virtually invisible.
Already in its second edition, the Financial Times and Oppenheimer Funds Emerging Voices Awards encourages and recognises talent from emerging markets that include countries in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Middle East.
Visual Art in is on a rise, particularly amongst the Millennials. Th rough highly lauded exhibitions around the world, the artists have been able to export art, culture and heritage.
A number of local galleries have also made strides into this rapacious international art market. Zimbabwe was amongst 17 other galleries that exhibited at the London fair for the fi rst time in 2016 represented by Village Unhu.
Over the past four years the fair has established itself as a leading voice in the global discussion on contemporary African art, and has continued to offer a spotlight to the work of many African and African Diasporan artists, working in various different mediums and coming from a unique background.
On the other hand, the National Gallery of Zimbabwe will for the fourth time participate in the 2017 Venice biennale.
Important to note is that the gallery has been consistent in presenting ground breaking contemporary art exhibitions through the Venice Biennale and has served as a creative laboratory where artists are free to experiment.
World over, history has repeatedly demonstrated that the growth and development of significant art is a result of sustained national, cultural patriotism and commercial patronage.
Undeniably, culture and creativity have been the cement that binds together not only hearts and souls, but entire societies and nations.
The production and consumption of creative expression has increasingly contributed to the growth of economies in many countries.
Zimbabwe needs to continue on the path of creating and harnessing the right curatorial conditions, expertise, talent and scholarships to enable these artistic achievements to be accelerated and sustained.