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Brighton Dambudzo Karongosora CUT University —
So you guys spend the whole four years drawing?” This is the most common question people outside the art fraternity ask me when I tell them that I am studying for a Bachelor of Science in Arts and Design.
They cannot comprehend why Chinhoyi University of Technology would make a person spend four years “just drawing.”
The Beehive art exhibition is my answer to that question as I set out to demonstrate that art and design are complex areas and studying them imbues one with skills that offer a wide range of possibility in communication and aesthetics.
Tolstoy cites the time, effort, public funds, and public respect spent on art and artists as well as the imprecision of general opinions on art as reason for writing the book What Is Art. In his words: “It is difficult to say what is meant by art, and especially what is good, useful art for the sake of which we might condone such sacrifices as are being offered at its shrine”.
Having rejected the use of beauty in definitions of art Tolstoy conceptualises art as anything that communicates emotion: “Art begins when a man, with the purpose of communicating to other people a feeling he once experienced, calls it up again within himself and expresses it by certain external signs”.
His view of art is inclusive: “home decoration” and “church services” may all be considered art as long as they convey feeling. It is also amoral: “feelings … very bad and very good, if only they infect the reader … constitute the subject of art”.
Tolstoy also notes that the sincerity of the artist that is, the extent to which the artist “experiences the feeling he conveys influences the infection”.
I’ve drawn my whole life. A pen in my hand is a multitasking tool that serves me good. It conveys my feeling better, at least according to Tolstoy. From writing various exercises to drawing images of my imagination and observation. This intrinsic force has been promoted by a good measure of reinforcement from my teachers.
After I made a quick sketch of her image at the back of my Mathematics exercise book, my primary school teacher called me over and asked “Who did this ..?” I gave no answer as I could not gauge by her face if she approved or disapproved.
The next day I found myself drawing “overtime” as she tasked me to do some charts. Soon the whole school staff joined in and my art proved to be a practical skill. My ability to draw made me indispensable to my parents and classmates alike.
My ideas come from reflecting on my life and the lives of people I have known and have been in some way inspired by. The story quilts grow out of my need to tell stories, not with words alone, but with pictures or symbols I make in my mind.
I have always drawn inspiration from local artists, flora and fauna of the Dande area, where I grew up. The good and bad of rural life has crafted a strong vision in my artistic flair and style. I won several accolades through art, though I never got formal art education till I enrolled at Chinhoyi University of Technology.
Coming from a family of artists, one may take to art was a natural progression. My mother used to draw a spider on the floor, only for me to think a bee is a better one as it provided honey. The spider is a repairer. If you bash into the web of a spider, she doesn’t get mad.
She weaves and repairs it and that is her story. ‘The Spider’ is an ode to my mother and the bee to me and other artists who make honey from various unexpected ingredients.
The Beehive art exhibition is an exposition of artworks that I have done over the past four years as a student at Chinhoyi University.
This includes drawings of pen and pencil, paintings of various media and expression styles. Graphic illustration, my specialised area shall be the exhibition focal point as a unique style of vector rendering. “The Prince and Princess” piece is likely to be a major draw card as it resembles two afrocentric figures in their model pose, illustrating the beauty of Africa as the sun shreds to birth.
Pen drawn portraits of prominent personalities are on show at The Beehive Art exhibition. One of the exhibits “Angeline Musasiwa” a permanent collection piece at the National Art Gallery will be there for all to see.
Advertising material and graphic content for various companies are will also be shown at this exhibition to be held at Herald House, 6th Floor, 0fficially opening on Wednesday 9 November.
It going to be an event of importance to the art community, schools and stakeholders as prominent people in the art circles are expected to attend.
Students, YOU CAN SEND YOUR ARTICLES THROUGH E-MAIL, FACEBOOK, WHATSAPP or TEXT Just app Charles Mushinga on 0772936678 or send your articles, pictures, poetry, art . . . to Charles Mushinga at [email protected] or [email protected] or follow Charles Mushinga on Facebook or @charlesmushinga on Twitter. You can also post articles to The Sunday Mail Bridge, PO Box 396, Harare or call 0772936678.
Online Reporter