Online Reporter
Langalakhe Mabena, Zimpapers Arts and Entertainment Hub
The National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare is displaying Portraits of Zimbabwe, which is an exhibition of over 80 photographic prints by the late Chicago Dzviti.
The exhibition will be open to the Public on May 30 and it is made possible by the support of the Embassy of the United States of America.
Dzviti who was a photojournalist, who was born in Shamva’s rural settings, developed an interest for photography, which he later pursued at the Harare Polytechnic in 1987. This marked the beginning of a career that was one year short of a decade, but illustrious in detailing Zimbabwean life; with the caption of society, rites, rituals and roles laid out with a powerful objectivity which narrated urban, peri-urban and rural lives to the same degree.
Dzviti’s works substantiate the celebrated personality within the public realm, in the same gaze as the everyman.
“This body of work focuses on a period starting from the early 1980s towards the middle of the 1990s; offering a window into what life was in the formative years of the postcolonial dispensation, a historiography of what everyday life was for older generations, which may serve as a time capsule for the youngest Zimbabweans,” said Zvikomborero Mandangu from the National Gallery of Zimbabwe.
Portraits of Zimbabwe is co-curated by Dr Jennifer Kyker, who is Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology at the Eastman School of Music, and as Associate Professor of Music in the College Music Department at the University of Rocheste,r and Fadzai Muchemwa, who is Curator of Contemporary Art at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe.
Chicago Taona Dzviti was born on September 17 in 1961, in Shamva in Zimbabwe. He died on September 2 in 1995, at his home in Glen Norah, Harare, following his release from the hospital.
As an artist, journalist, and photographer, Dzviti’s vision was inspired by the beauty and culture of Zimbabwe. He succeeded as an artist through innovation, persistence, and encouragement from his family.
