A day at the National Gallery: Meet young Zimbabwe artists telling their stories

WE have all seen it, the simple yet intricate strokes of a paintbrush on a blank canvas, bringing to life a story close to the artist’s heart.

Art, a creative discipline in Zimbabwe that often lacks support, is being championed by the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo, which currently houses 15 of the city’s top talents.

I had the rare privilege of a private tour of the gallery guided by Rinako Shirai, who is part of the five Overseas Co-operation Volunteers on a two-year volunteer tenure at the gallery. The tour began at the shop housed within the gallery, where pieces from various artistic aspects, such as literature, pottery and ceramics, to name a few, are on sale to art lovers.

The staff was detailed in explaining to me just what it takes to become an artist and to produce art.

“To become an artist, one can pursue an arts degree at any Polytechnic University or train at the Mzilikazi Art Centre. People can also self-teach themselves artistic concepts and get familiar with art through social media platforms,” said the head of the shop, Joseph Munyuki.

A fundamental principle that I was told to remember is that art is subjective and that every piece has a story behind why it was created and what it symbolises.

As we continued on the tour, an art piece that immediately caught my eye was that of the work of the young and talented Abigail N Hunda. The art piece, titled “Respectfully Unbound,” is only one of many intriguing and expressive paintings that are the works of the young artist.

“I created this painting as an expression of a period of my life that I was going through. During this period, I felt that I was censoring myself a lot before speaking my mind. This painting allowed me to push aside that censorship and really express the things that occupied my mind for so long.

“It felt freeing to be able to paint without having to censor anything about my art,” said Hunda as she looked at the painting with much admiration and pride.

When asked about her creative process and how she produces such thought-provoking paintings with only two years of experience, she said each piece is different, though she uses a consistent paint texture.
She dug deeper and said all her paintings and artistic works are experiments and that when she settles in to paint, she is led by her genuine intuition and a curiosity that knows no bounds. She allows herself to figure out what the story of the canvas will be and simply paints it.

Hunda said that often, she does not know what to paint or where to start, but she embraces that uncertainty, letting the canvas and paint guide her creative process. One of her innovative techniques involved experimenting with expired baking powder to create a bubbly texture on her canvas, layering paint over it to give the piece a striking, almost tangible depth that draws viewers in and invites them to feel the art with their eyes and fingers.

“I was lucky enough to find multi-award-winning artist Talent Kapedza in the studio, working on a new series of paintings for his long-standing body of work,” she said.

Kapedza, a resident artist at the gallery for the past decade, welcomed me into his space to share the stories and meanings behind some of his most compelling works.

“Art is not just a basic expression of emotion, but rather a more intricate and provoking look into the lives and beings of other people. Art allows people to speak a universal language without having to say anything to one another,” he said while further explaining what the definition of art was and what it means to people.

He said no two paintings are ever truly the same. A recreated piece can echo the original, but it never captures it exactly.

The tour led me around to other artists whose work was based in fashion and textiles. A striking feature of their work is the way they preserve traditional Zimbabwean elements while introducing modern cuts and styles. Beads crafted from ostrich eggshells and the use of national colours add a distinctive cultural touch to their contemporary designs.

The National Gallery of Zimbabwe welcomes visitors to view exhibitions or enrol in art courses that offer a first step toward becoming an artist. Other classes, such as piano and virtual art lessons for kids, are also on offer at the gallery. For people looking to venture into and understand the world of art, a membership at a fee is enough to get a tour of the exhibition whenever they go.

A highlight on Zimbabwe’s art calendar is the CiMAM (International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art) 58th Annual Conference, set for later this year in Harare, pending official dates.

This milestone event will bring together over 300 museum directors, curators and cultural leaders from around the world, offering local artists a rare platform to showcase their work and share their perspectives on contemporary Zimbabwean art.