adminAuxilia Katongomara Saturday Leisure Reporter
WALKING along Fife Street at the Bulawayo City Hall one cannot help but marvel at the exceptional art pieces that are on display.
There are curios of hippos, lions, giraffes, buffaloes showing the animals that are found in the country’s national parks. Colourful beadwork is also there, with men and women toiling and labouring all through the day coming up with beautiful pieces for them to sell, not forgetting wooden carvings, doilies and flowers.
There is a plethora of goods on display such that one is spoilt for choice. From a distance, one sees the vendors chatting excitedly, seemingly enjoying the cool breeze and the shade from trees.
Some of them have been in the business for a long time and have seen it all; from the time the grass was ‘‘greener’’ to the time Zimbabweans from all walks of life faced harsh economic conditions and the introduction of the multi-currency system.
The place beyond the fence is well maintained by the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) and scores of residents and travellers pass by each day but one cannot help noticing the vendors.
While some stop to inquire about prices, most people just pass by and ignore them, minding their own business.
But what really keeps the vendors on the pavement of the City Hall? What is the secret to their business? How is the market?
Saturday Leisure spent time with some of the vendors who shared the ordeals of their day-to-day business.
One of the vendors, Chrispen Matsika (28), said he became a full-time vendor just after completing his studies in 2004 and has not looked back since then.
Matsika specialises in beadwork, wooden bowls, leather sandals and also sells animal horns.
“Business here has been very slow since the economic crunch in 2008, even after the introduction of the multi-currency system, things have not been all rosy, people out there don’t have much to spare because there is no money,” he said.
Matsika, like the majority of the vendors, is a self-taught artiste who did not attend vocational training to be an artiste but was trained at home by his parents.
He said apart from the meagre income he gets from selling his wares, there was a time when he felt like quitting, just like many of the vendors but he could not afford to do so as he could not find an alternative job.
“I tried getting a job at the National Railways of Zimbabwe but to no avail. Even if one decides to quit this business, there is nowhere to go, the industries are closing so we just have to persevere and do with the little that we get,” said Matsika.
He said there was a general misconception that their target market was white people but he insisted his goods are for the local people.
“White people buy from time to time, they do not come here all the time, so we cannot say we are making goods for white people,” explained Matsika.
He, however, said on a good month, he makes about $300 which he says is enough to keep his family going.
Due to the unavailability of jobs in the local industry, Matsika has also groomed his younger brother whom he works with.
Shabreck Mhlanga, a curio vendor, also said business was very slow as people don’t buy much.
“Art is a luxury, so most people do not prioritise buying curios or any art because appreciation of art is still very low here in Zimbabwe. My wares range from $1 to $15 and sometimes I get one or two customers a day,” said Mhlanga.
He said if opportunities were to open up and jobs became readily available, he would quit the vending business.
The vendors said if industries were reopened, probably more investors would come into the country and that would mean more business for them.
Chairman of the vendors’ committee, Lovemore Chitsike, who has been plying the trade since 1989, said during the time he joined the trade, business was brisk but the tides had since turned for the worst.
“Back in the early 90s, whites flooded the market and art was not enough for the market.
“The majority of black people did not take art seriously and artistes were viewed as marombe,” he said.
Chitsike said as the country’s economy went bad, art was also seriously affected but they had since adjusted to the situation.
The chairperson, who specialises in stone, wood, wire and beadwork, said back then, they could afford sending their children to school with the money they made selling their wares but now they were living from hand to mouth.
Chitsike paid tribute to BCC which he said had supported them in good and bad times.
“We would like to thank the BCC because it is patient with us, they understand the problems we are facing as we are struggling to pay rentals. It is not easy here. sometimes we get $1 or $2 a week, so getting money for the rentals is very hard,” he said.
Secretary of the vendors’ committee Zenzo Bhebhe, who has been on the pavements since 1984, said they could not move from the City Hall as art was the only trade they had mastered.
“Back in the day, we used to carry our stuff to South Africa to sell then we would change the rand to Zimbabwe dollars and get more money. I am almost a pensioner and no company can employ me at my age. Despite the difficulties, we just have to soldier on, singayangaphi,” he said.
Bhebhe said looking at the Zimbabwean situation, art was mainly for the elite or house owners as they had room to display the curios. The vendors said one of Bulawayo’s biggest events; the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF), does not pay dividends to them as they have not recorded any business.
“As for the Trade Fair, it’s useless. We used to transport our wares to the stands for sale and over the years we have only gotten orders that are not fulfilled and we run a loss.
“We used to hire vehicles to carry the stuff to and from the ZITF and at the end of the day we ran losses so we have since dropped the idea of going there,” said the vendors.
The artistes said they only record brisk business during the period between 26 December and January 10 each year, when injiva and Zimbabweans based in the diaspora buy presents for their friends before they leave.
They said they wished people could decorate their homes with Zimbabwean art rather than foreign artefacts.
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