adminHowever, some of this talent goes to waste as most children in schools are not exposed and have no access to resources to realise their dreams.
This failure by talented youngsters to fulfill their dreams can be attributed to lack of interest by those with the resources or mere ignorance by those whose little input can make tremendous changes in their life.
Failure to appreciate this talent can turn into a psychological warfare within these artists, who later on vent their bottled talent via subtle messages to the public through graffiti in the wrong areas.
Graffiti in Bulawayo has become a very common feature and maybe it is high time City Fathers appreciated that these paintings were not done by mere hooligans who just want to deface the city, but artists crying out for access to space and resources.
This publication recently ran a story about a mother, Beauty Lifa, who was looking for help for her immensely talented son, Brendon Mubhemi.
The pupil at Ingwegwe Primary School in Pumula, faced many challenges in getting enough resources to keep on drawing his portraits.
In an interview, the young boy said he was passionate about art, but resources were a hindrance.
“I spend most of my time drawing and if I am not focusing on my art, I would be watching cartoons or going through magazines and that is where I get most of my ideas from.
“So sometimes when watching cartoons I pause the image that I want to work on and begin to draw it,” said the bright looking young boy.
Saturday Leisure spoke to Ingwegwe Primary School headmaster Musa Nxumalo who said resources were an contributory factor to the school’s limited curriculum.
“I am overwhelmed by such talent from our very own and it is unfortunate that we do not have enough resources to help pupils like Brendon achieve their goals,” said Nxumalo.
The headmaster showed the news crew drawings of Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi done by some of the pupils.
“If we could get some sponsors then our talented pupils would be able to live their dreams,” he said.
The young boy went on to highlight how he also does his art at school with his friends Elton Sibanda and Quinton Mathe, who are also into art.
It was unfortunate that Mrs Ndlovu, who used to help the young boy with bond paper and paints, went away for an eye operation, so the young boy was running low on material.
“I used to get equipment from my teacher Mrs Ndlovu and now that she took days off due to an eye operation, my material has run dry,” said the young boy.
The talented boy once drew a tiger using used oil, because he had no oil paint to work with. However, such lack has never stopped his love for art.
Communally, the young boy had not received support, but the love and support he gets from his family is irreplaceable.
Efforts made by the young boy’s mother were not in vain as the manager of City of Kings Business Ventures, Moses Muntali, on Tuesday confirmed that he was going to take the art genius on an assessment period as a starting point in polishing up the young boy’s work.
In a meeting held at the City of Kings Business Ventures’ offices located at the Tower Block with Brendon and his father, Muntali emphasised the importance of consulting the boy’s parents first before initiating everything else. He said that he was going to do what he could together with the principal of Mzilikazi Art and Craft Centre.
“I am very glad to see this talented boy and first of all, I wanted to consult his parents then hear what the principal of our Craft Centre, Mr Regis Musoni, has in mind.
“The City of Kings Business Ventures in conjunction with Mzilikazi Art and Craft Centre specialise in grooming young talent and we have over the years worked with the International Labour Organisation together with the Art Gallery in securing employment for talented students we would have groomed,” said Muntali.
Muntali said they were looking forward to taking the young artist under their wing.
“It is imperative for these talented artists to also be equally good academically or at least attain their education and then focus on art from a learned background.
“So we are going to make sure that Brendon carries on with his academic life and try to make some time for his artwork,” he said.
The City of Kings Business Ventures, an institution created by the council, has together with Mzilikazi Art and Craft Centre trained talented youngsters as they believe in identifying talent at its early stages.
“We have over the years managed to help talented children from our city and we offer them courses which polish up their works,” he said.
Muntali outlined how Brendon was going to be part of some students whose talents have been nurtured.
“The principal is going to evaluate the young boy’s work and this will enable him to deduce the stage the talented boy has reached.
“Afterwards we can arrange a schedule for him to embark on a one-and-a-half year course that would help him work on the theoretical aspect of art,” he said.
According to Muntali, if everything goes as planned, the young boy would be conducting his lessons at least twice a week for two hours.
The National Gallery in Bulawayo said that they had communicated with the Ministry of Youth Empowerment to ensure schools such as Ingwegwe were also given the same opportunity to provide their pupils with art material.
In an interview, the National Gallery’s assistant curator, Clifford Zulu, said every pupil has the right to education with access to basic equipment.
“Every student has the right to equal education including pupils from Ingwegwe Primary School.
“Which is why I am going to make a follow-up and see to it that the young boy gets help and also consult with the Ministry of Youth Empowerment so that pupils from the so called B-schools also get equal art education,” he said
The young boy’s father Bvanji Mubhemi was overwhelmed by the response he got from City of Kings Business Venture, in conjunction with Mzilikazi Art and Craft Centre and also the gallery.
“No words can express the joy I have and what the City of Kings Business Ventures has done for us.”
Online Reporter