Gwanza pays tribute to kombi

attention at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare.
The “kombi” now rests motionless on pristine shiny and polished gallery floors, tucked away in sparkling titanium white walls beneath natural rays of light piercing through a high transparent roof.

The luxury of peace and tranquillity and thin fresh air has become a realisation of dreams for the “kombi” after seeing off years of endless journeys, inhaling and excretion of passengers of race and creed.

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The rough and tough banging and grinding on the streets, idling interminably and emitting tonnes of poisonous carbon gasses into the heavens.

Drivers speeding off like demons to elude the police or bribing them, the taxi touts or “mahwindi” piping and hanging precariously on the door calling for passengers or shouting obscene at them and giving lame excuses for their reluctance to give them coins for change.
“Pimp My Combi” is an exploration of the minibus as a marker of vernacular aesthetics and cultural codes, as well as a vehicle defining both urban landscape and social space throughout Africa.

It is the 2011 edition of Gwanza, the Month of Photography exhibition now showing at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare under the theme “Pimp My Combi”.
This year’s selection has paid close attention to the documentary relevance, technical quality and aesthetic value of the work submitted by local photographers who have shown great creativity and originality in their approach of the theme.

“Pimp my Combi” highlights works by Southern and East African photographers to foster dialogue within and beyond Zimbabwean borders.
The photographers and artists selected for Gwanza 2011 are Ignatius Mabasa, Berry Bickle, Christopher Hunt, Angela Jimu, Mbali Khoza, Remmy Marimo, Anne Mpalume, Nancy Mteki, Bethule Nkiwane, Believe Nyakudjara, Resta Nyamwanza, Nyadzombe Nyempenza, and Zinyange Ruzvidzo.

Also featured are US-based Zimbabwean installation artist Chido Johnson and South African video artist Breeze Yoko.
Gwanza Arts in partnership with the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare, is pleased with the reception of the exhibition under the theme that was proposed by Raphael Chikukwa, curator at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe. London-based curator Christine Eyene, who brought with her, a new curatorial vision to the show selected the 14 photographers and artists.

The show welcomes people with an abstract of “Yakadhakwa Nyika”, a poem by renowned Zimbabwean author Ignatius Mabasa evoking the “kombi” as a common feature in our daily lives.
Written in 2007, this poem, published in musical form and played in the “kombi” placed within the exhibition space, resonates with recent news of tragic road accidents that have claimed the lives of many.

In addition to the main exhibition that opened on August 4 and runs until September 4, 2011.
Gwanza 2011 also includes a public programme developed in partnership with the British Council, which saw the launch of the Bulawayo Conversations on July 26, 2011, at the National Gallery in

Bulawayo, and hosting the Harare Conversations on August 6, at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare, alongside workshops and portfolio reviews. Founded in 2003, by acclaimed Zimbabwean photographer Calvin Dondo, Gwanza Arts is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the development and promotion of photography.
Gwanza hosts the biggest annual photography exhibition in Zimbabwe and provides a platform for interaction between local and international photographers.

The 2011 edition of Gwanza is supported by the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, British Council, Culture Fund, Hivos, Spanish Embassy, Cuban Embassy and all the prints are produced by 4toz Digital, Harare.

For the first time, Gwanza will be followed up by a more comprehensive exhibition at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in January 2012, featuring visual artists and photographers from across the African continent. A presentation of Gwanza 2011 will be held on October 7, 2011, at the Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, as part of the round table “The Studio and The World”, in conjunction with Photoquai – Biennial of World Images co-curated by Christine Eyene.

• Stephen Garan’anga is an international fine art practitioner, independent art projects coordinator, chairperson of AfricanColours Artists, executive member Batapata International Artists Workshop, critical visual arts writer amongst other things. He can be contacted on [email protected]