Zimbabwe

_{Art by G.Nyandoro}

^{Currently in the Zimbabwe there is much emphasis on the benefits of the arts for the youth and how the arts take up time which otherwise might be frittered away. Art at school is no longer a pleasure, but rather it has to do with examinations. Institutions of higher learning are tapping into the respectability and prospects of the arts as professions and offering degree courses, master's courses, theoretical courses, and practical courses in the visual and performing arts... More here}

_{I write what i like by chiurai kudzanai}

_{From ancient times African Art has been considered primitive and less intelligent by outsiders who misunderstood the African people's way of life and the things they created. The African people's way of life inspired them to create mostly that was functional and they identified themselves with their work as it enhanced their pride in who they really are. Their naturally sculptural work brought incorrect perception from the non Africans who found them either barbaric or strange in form as well as their spirituality. The idea of art is changed with decidedly subjective overtones. Fundamentally it is a western idea developed in the mental climate of western philosophy and applied to the expression of western culture.}

_{In this article, artist and writer Stephen Garan'anga  journeys with us into the history of Contemporary African art in Zimbabwe. Click here to continue reading}

_{Mother moon, father sun by Luke Bezuidenhout}

_{The stone sculpture fraternity in Zimbabwe and the international arena will mourn the loss of Luke Bezuidenhout — the "strange enchanted boy" of the profession. Luke was able to get beyond the appearance of a stone sculpture and divine its meaning, the way it was grounded in the realities of African culture and life at a universal level. His work with Chapungu Sculpture Park embraced the nitty gritty and the basics bringing sculptures to life through his words which prized the depths of feeling and complexities that come with sculpting. Read more here}

Spiritual woman by Chituwa Jemali

^{Harare — AFRICA University will this year celebrate the university's unique Pan African and international art fete with residents of Mutare and beyond in their fifth edition of the Manica Festival scheduled for March 27 - 28."The festival is an opportunity for students in the arts as well as those interested in the arts to show the products of their works from their community projects or their own artistic talents", said dean of the faculty of humanities at Africa University Tambudzai Zindi.
Read more here courtesy of allAfrica.com.}

_Sometimes

<sub>Mixed media on canvas

As a black student at the University of Pretoria, “Kudzi” was not expected to finish his course. But he has since emerged as a serious artist who has so far sold out at each exhibition he has had. A Zimbabwean now a virtual exile in South African, Kudzi cannot go back home, let alone exhibit his work there. In this piece, he spoke to AfricanColours setting out his approach to work and encouraging artists in his situation to “balance between paranoia and saying what is on your mind.”</sub>

_{Read more by Caroline Kaminju/AfricanColours.net}

^{While the art on display at the San Diego Natural History Museum is from Zimbabwe, it's not made for Zimbabweans. The sculptures, known as "Shona art," are made purely for Westerners. But these days, the strife in Zimbabwe is making it difficult for the artists to sell their creations abroad. The regime of President Robert Mugabe has made it more difficult for foreigners to visit the country, and many art dealers have been affected. Read more here from csmonitor.com}

^{The Annual Gwanza Photographic Workshop, which attracts some of the country's leading and upcoming photo journalists in Zimbabwe and the Southern African region, ended on Friday 18 July in Harare with a full house of over 20 participants. The highlight of the workshop was world renowned photojournalist Alexander Joe who took the participants on the fundamental steps in the field of photography...Read more here}

^{Powell Gardens has brought 54 monumental stone sculptures from the Chapungu Sculpture Park from Harare, Zimbabwe, as its major exhibition this summer and fall. Chapungu has been exhibited in some major gardens in the United States. The hand made sculptures, some of which tower up to 11 feet in height and weigh from 500 to 5,000 pounds, are shaped in the form of animals, families and creatures of legend….Read more from digitalBURG.com}

^{“Zimbabwe continues to be isolated from the International Contemporary Art World but we will continue to fight to reclaim our position in the International Art World”, wrote rising Zimbabwean curator Raphael Chikukwa from Dakar, Senegal a couple of days ago. Currently in Senegal, he is part of an international jury for Dak’Art 2008. Chikukwa is globetrotting, fresh from a recent graduation with a MA Degree in Curating Contemporary Design at the Kingston University, UK. Read more.}

_{The drawing, Crossing Over is my attempt to portray a woman who has renounced the physical world of the senses in the desire to seek a spiritual world of love and understanding. In this I wish to explore the question: How do we explain, the political and violent events that happen in our lives and in the world, now that we no longer believe in the power of ‘divine intervention’? Click here to read more about lauryn Arnott's upcoming exhibition.}

^{The Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA) has grown into one of the most substantial and diverse international arts events in Africa. The dates of this year’s Festival are 29th April to 4th May and HIFA 2008 promises to be the most prestigious since the Festival’s inauguration in 1999. HIFA is flourishing; HifAmigo subscriptions have increased from 467 in 2006 to 1 104 for HIFA 2008. The HIFA website receives thousands of hits on a daily basis and there were at least 600 separate articles covering HIFA 2007 posted on various international websites, in numerous languages. Read more.}

^{ZIMBABWE'S celebrated arts festival, Harare International Festival of the Arts (Hifa) will premiere local and international artistic talent on April 29. Launching the artistic showcase, Hifa chairperson, Angeline Kamba said this year's six-day event is inspired by the resilience exhibited by local artists and the corporate sector over the past nine years of existence."This year's theme (The Art of Determination) is an acknowledgement of Zimbabwe's artistic resilience," said Kamba. Read more from AllAfrica.}

^{Female artworks on display to mark the on-going Celebrating Womanhood Exhibition at the National Art Gallery of Zimbabwe are now on sale. The works on sale reveal the artitic skill women artists in Zimbabwe possess. In an interview, gallery press officer, Rutendo Mutadzapasi said the sale of the artworks was aimed at empowering women and creating an income for them."Women artists should be able to sustain themselves and be self sufficient economically," said Mutadzapasi. Read more from AllAfrica.com.}

^{Writing a book about oneself means uncovering, recovering and rediscovering one's past. This has been the case for Tom Blomefield, founder and until recently director of the famed Tengenenge Sculpture Community, as he has written from files, folders and memories in his book "Stone Rich in Africa". A book about his life, times and Tengenenge. Tom believes there is something beyond art in Tengenenge , a positive feeling that has to do with harmony and belief in the spirits.  Read more from AllAfrica.com.}

^{Watch out Robert Mugabe. The termites are on the march and those leaves they're clutching between their feelers are actually ballot slips. The Great Termite Revolt is the title of a painting by well-known Zimbabwean artist Cosmos Shiridzinomwa, which he produced for an exhibition entitled Let's Get Together that opened at Harare's Gallery Delta earlier in March. In the painting columns of termites pour across dark hills into a sunlit valley waving green leaves marked with an X. Read more from IOL.co.za}

^{The future of stone sculpture in Zimbabwe is poised to reach new and international levels of growth with the appointment of Dominic Benhura to lead the world acclaimed Tengenenge Sculpture Center - founded by the legendary Tom Blomfield in the early 1960s. Dominic Benhura, Zimababwe’s award winning and internationally renowned sculptor was already heading Tengenenge's operations as its director at a time when stone art is becoming well known in many parts of the world. Read more from Martin Chemhere.}

^{Tired of being sidelined from the mainstream arts scene, diverse budding art groups from Chitungwiza will on 8th March 2008 host a variety arts festival dubbed "To be Seen is to be Heard". Taona Marufu of View House Arts Project, event co-ordinator, said the festival was a platform for budding artistes to showcase their talents."What we are offering them is the platform to perform in front of the people who would give them support". Read more from AllAfrica.}

^{The way we look at the world is different from the way artists look at it, but it is all the more revealing when we see the world through their eyes. This is what Barry Lungu, an abstract realism artist has done in his one-man exhibition running at the Richard Rennie Art Gallery. He sees things in the world that ordinary people do not and his paintings have a clarity of movement, expression and light.You can clearly see where people are going and where they are coming from.  Read more from AllAfrica.}

^{The Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA) has grown into one of the biggest and most diverse international arts events in Africa. This year's Festival runs from April 29 to May 4 and promises to be the most prestigious since the Festival's inauguration in 1999. The Harare Gardens in the centre of Harare and surrounding venues will be transformed into a cultural carnival featuring a huge programme of music of all types, theatre, dance and visual arts. Read more from TheZimbabwean}

^{Once again, talented artists in Zimbabwe are facing a major threat from internationally well connected fake art dealers who have long known the value of Zimbabwean stone sculpture and created a market for fake contemporary Zimbabwean in Europe and the US as well as emerging markets in the Far East. Bringing these international and well connected culprits to book seem like an insurmountable task for the artists. Read more from allAfrica.com}

^{Domboramwari Art Village Residency Program that ran from October-December 2007 witnessed the synergy of 17 visual artists coming from seven different countries. It was a conducive platform for the sharing of skills and knowledge. During the course of the program, the team traveled to Mvurwi, where the Great Dyke Mine is situated. At this source, a diverse range of stones is excavated. Working with the theme “Judgement”, the artists produced an extraordinary body of works that captured the eye of observers. Read more.}

^{The Domboramwari Art Village has developed through offering local people teaching and encouragement in the visual arts and is now looking to establish international residencies. Visiting artists will work with Domboramwari artists in outreach work doing educational workshops for school children and giving slide talks at Universities and Art Centers on their own work. To apply for a residency please click here or email dboramwari_arts@yahoo.com}

^{Eighteen countries will this year participate in the Sixth International Images Film Festival for Women that begins on November 30 until December 8 in Harare.The festival that runs under the theme Fighting Women - will also be held in Bulawayo from December 14 to 16. In a statement, the organisers said that the theme refers to the ongoing exclusion of women from public office and the women who fight for inclusion on acceptable terms. Read more from Tatenda Chipungudzanye of allAfrica.}

^{One of Zimbabwe’s newest cultural arts organizations called Pabvute Visual Arts Space on Tuesday 23 October 2007 made a resounding entry into the art scene with their debut exhibition featuring some of the leading artists in the country. Running from 24 October to end of November 2007 at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, the show comprises a variety of works by 8 top artists in the media of sculpture, installation, wood, clay, metal, mixed media, paintings and photography. Read more from Martin Chemhere.}

^{At a time when the world is largely embroiled in conflicts, triggering human catastrophes of alarming proportions, a myriad of lights-of-hope are flickering in various corners of the planet in search for peace and stability. One such light is currently flickering in Harare through a child-oriented project titled “Peace In Our Communities”, 22 September to 14 October 2007, at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe. The exhibition also reveals how young children can tackle difficult thematic issues. Read more}

_{The changing nature of art is determined by the changing of what art is made from. The 20th century C20 artists’ movement away from traditional materials, stone, bronze, wood, clay to the engagement of the natural or man-made object is in keeping, however, with the tradition of the African mask maker who would take the wood from the tree, the feathers from the back of the chicken, the bones of the dead cattle. Read more}

_{Is it possible to change anything through aesthetics? The surrealists, who painted on the eve of World War II, certainly believed that they could transform the world.They produced a number of manifestos and pamphlets describing in detail how their work would change things as well.They called themselves "those who do not despair of the transformation of the world and who wish this transformation to be as radical as possible." Read more by Anne Derges}

_{The year 2007 marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of The National Gallery in Harare. This modernist building was opened with an extraordinary exhibition that brought a collection of highly prized European art works for the first time to an audience in Southern Africa. To mark the 50th year of our existence, The National Gallery of Zimbabwe will mount an equally momentous show. The show will run from December 2007 to February 2008. Read more}

^{The AfricanColours Artists’ Association (AAA), sponsored by the Culture Fund of Zimbabwe Trust (CFoZT) will be conducting visual arts seminars around the country starting in Harare on 17th of September 2007 at the National Art Gallery of Zimbabwe. The main objective of the seminars is to encourage the country’s visual artists to use the various forms of Information Technology around to publicize their work to a global audience and help contribute to the growth of the country’s culture sector. read more}

_{The year 2007 marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of The National Gallery in Harare. This modernist building was opened with an extraordinary exhibition that brought a collection of highly prized European art works. The Jubilee Show, afriCa/afriKa[H], is designed in response to the opening show in 1957 that attracted donation of works from “our” European friends. The aim of the show, 50 years later is to invite works from OUR African friends. Read more}

_{The Zimbabwe International Film festival, which is celebrating its tenth year, is calling for film submissions for this year’s event, which will be held under the theme ‘A Fiesta of Film, A Decade of Cinema.’ “We are inviting film-makers to submit feature films, documentaries or short films produced in or after 2005,” said Isabel Manuel, the Festival Manager.  Read more...}

_{Antony Kaminju’s portfolio at Gwanza 2007 is a tale of Africa’s hidden secrets. “For the first time in my career my pictures have attracted buyers in an exhibition situation. It’s amazing how things have turned out to be for someone who has just begun to know the exhibition circuit” A highly talented photo journalist, Kaminju’s work is part of the 2007 Gwanza Month of Photography showing at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, in Harare until 14th August. Read more}

_{The Culture Fund of Zimbabwe Trust will this year disburse 40 billion Zimbabwean dollars to organisations, institutions and individuals who applied for funding to engage in cultural activities. The money will be given to 140 projects that were selected under eight sub-sectors, namely cultural heritage, fine arts/crafts, cultural industries, literature, languages, performing arts, multimedia as well as strategic projects. The performing arts received $9,690,171,330. Read more here}

_{The 2007 Mohamed Amin Photographic Award in the CNN African Journalists Awards held in Cape Town, SA, on Friday 20 July 2007 was won by Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi from Zimbabwe. The 30 year old Zimbabwean has made local history by scooping the coveted award for the second time in less than five years.  Mukwazhi won the award after entering a series of photographs depicting scenes of Zimbabwe’s diamond rush in Marange communal lands. Read more by Martin Chemhere}

_{Today sculptors use ancient and modern detritus to make telling futuristic, apocalyptic works, voicing what lies inside rather than what is spoken. Thus, sculpture emerges as protest art, as much as street theatre, spoken poetry, or a pocket size volume of short stories. These sculptures may tell different stories about Zimbabwe today to the stories told by the stones. They tell of the way people literally shelve the past and start again, give their lives a new setting. Read more by Stephen Garan'anga}

_{The career visual artists must choose materials which allow them to say what they want to say, by the stones, scrap metal, odd bits of glass, the rays of the sun, the light of the moon, the desert sands, found objects, paints, canvas, boards. The career artists must manoeuvre and negotiate for the desired space to allow work to be created not simply made. The career artist's social responsibility is to themselves. Read more}

_{As the holidays start, we must wonder whether, like other professions that go for a break till next year, do the artists and those in art profession do too?
"No ‘time out’ for artists" is Steve Garan’anga’s take on whether the artist really takes a break during such occasions and what they possibly do with the 'time on their hands'.}

_{Read more}

_{Regarded as the founding father of Zimbabwean stone sculpture, Joram Mariga left an artistic legacy, which has had a far-reaching bearing on the way the art form is viewed at home and abroad. This assertion is well known and believed by many followers of the Zimbabwean art. The tribute showcased about 12 works which once again afforded the sculpture lover with the late artist’s approach such as his finishing or polishing of works .....Read more here}