Jangano’s works on exhibition at gallery

By Terrence Chitukudza
Paintings of the late Shepherd Simba Jangano on exhibition at the National Art Gallery can be described as portrayals of his personal life experiences.
The exhibition, titled “Rebirth Tribute to Painter Simba Jangano”, exposits the works of Jangano, who died in 2006.
Jangano’s pieces, which are on display for the first time at the National Art Gallery, are refreshingly brilliant as they carry the artistic splendour synonymous with modern art.
This, however, is despite the fact that most of the paintings were done some 40 years ago.
Raphael Chikukwa, the curator of the National Gallery, said he was happy to have come across Jangano’s pieces as they were of high artistic standard.
“The gallery is happy to exhibit the work of Jangano – the pieces are undoubtedly of high standard and they show various life experiences in a unique way,” he said.
Jangano used his passions and obsessions as the subject matter for his work. One of the pieces, entitled “The Tornado Band”, reveals his deep interest in music – Jangano was a musician in his own right.
The painting “Tornado Band” presents a party mood which music brings as the people are somersaulting and dancing to music beats.
In another piece Jangano pictures African people engaged in indigenous dances – a characteristic of festivities where people are caught unawares celebrating a good farming season.
What is more interesting in Jangano’s pieces is that they narrate ordeals of black people in different historical phases.
In another painting titled “Freedom Labour” Jangano reveals how Africans were subjected to inhumane treatment during the slave trade.
The artist reveals his bias for black people who are victims of foreign forces.
Jangano shows a commitment to the community from which he is born assuring the people that he is part of their struggles.
His pieces are more reminiscent of black history and the suffering of black people.
Other pieces are abstracts that picture the contemporary life of Africans in constant changes from rural to urban settings.
In this way Jangano captures people in different postures – nudity, beer drinking sprees while others are engaged in catechism and worshipping God.
Through Jangano’s art, one is thus interfaced with the life of a man who simply lived his art.
He had a way of inquiring into the structures of society.
Jangano made a litany of world-class pieces, which he did not expose to the public eye only to be retrieved from his gallery four years after his death.
And to immortalise Jangano’s legacy, veteran journalist Ezekiel Makunike is chronicling the life and work of Jangano in a publication set to be released at this year’s Zimbabwe International Book Fair.
Makunike said he was intrigued by Jangano’s life and the way he kept his art a secret for more than 50 years.
The exhibition of Jangano’s pieces posthumously is not the first by the gallery as it has also held shows for the late female sculptor Colleen Madamombe.
However, the exhibition of Jangano’s pieces has attracted so much public interest owing to the fact that the late artist was an unknown figure in the art circles as he confined his work to his private gallery.
Critics have described Jangano’s work as not only of high standard but also as bearing modern art techniques.
This shows the levels of talent and artistic foresight in Jangano as most of his works are decades old.