adminThe main exhibition is an itinerant public urban exhibition of contemporary African artistic practices.
Housed both in a temporary wooden pavilion structure in the Gallery’s Sculpture Garden designed by Ghanaian and British- born David Adjaye and the indoor Courtauld Gallery, “Art at Work” is installed in the public spaces of African capitals and is free and open to the public.
The project has already been presented in Tripoli, Libya in November 2010, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in February to March 2011, Addis Ababa in January 2012, and Cairo February to March 2012 and consists of 4 segments inclusive of the Zimbabwean exhibition.
Firstly, there is a photographic show curated by acclaimed African Curator Simon Njami, founder and editor of Revue Noire and long term curator of the Bamako
Biennale as well as curator of Africa Remix.
The show title “A Useful Dream” is presented in the Gallery under the conceptual framework envisaged by Simon, showcasing African photography from the last 50 years.
Major African photographers are featured in the show including Zimbabwean photographer Calvin Dondo.
The second segment is curated by David Adjaye and is the wooden pavilion. The pavilion’s interior follows David‘s decade long research on the urban development of African capitals and a selection of contemporary artists.
In 2009, David was selected in a competition to design the US$500 million National Museum of African American History and Culture, part of the Smithsonian in
Washington DC. He was the first Louis Kahn visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania and he is a RIBA Chartered Member.
His display is in the Gallery’s Sculpture Garden and includes a collection of images of selected capital cities on the continent.
“My concept for these pavilions is based on the notion that they represent a molecular unit for the design of an art space. The pavilion provides a very direct way of intervening in the public realm to make new art accessible to a wider audience,” Adaye said.
The third segment consists of a selection of Zimbabwean artists in the show called “Mifananidzo yeZimbabwe ndiyo Nhorowondo yedu: Images of Zimbabwe are our narratives” curated by the curator of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Raphael Chikukwa.
The segment will showcase photographs by Zimbabwean photographers that include Anne Mpalume, Nancy Mteki, Believe Nyakudyara, Tsvangirai Mukwazhi, Bhetule
Nkiwane, Hillary Maradzika and Aaron Mfumeli. The exhibition seeks to give an opportunity to the seven Zimbabwean photographers to tell the Zimbabwean story from a local perspective as well as explore both our past and present, which in the past has been misrepresented.
“In the past we have had the Zimbabwean and the African story in general being told by other people, thus ‘Mifananidzo yeZimbabwe ndiyo Nhorowondo yedu’ will attempt to negotiate this position of self by framing the idea of Zimbabwe differently,” said Chikukwa.
The fourth segment of “Art at Work” show will see a timeline documentation revealing the evolution of African cultural policies.
The goal of “Art at Work” is to show the extraordinary and diverse contribution of Africa to the world culture and to encourage a new reflection on the input of culture in the development of African Societies.
“The Gallery is delighted to host this important exhibition consisted of separate segments as they call upon the community to reflect upon what it means to be African against the backdrop of the attainment of freedom and independence over the last 50 years.
“While we look backward through traditional artifacts we also see today in the various photographic images. It is a most timely and fitting show to celebrate Africa Day and we are grateful to the EU and AU for making it possible,” said Doreen Sibanda, the executive director of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe.
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