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The Zimbabwe Annual Exhibition has been renewed for a second consecutive edition, featuring new artwork from painters and sculptors from all around Zimbabwe. The exhibition will run under the theme “Mharidzo” and provides a great viewing experience for the discerning art lover, buyer, collector and viewer. What is not known to many a viewer of this exhibition is its deep-rooted nature not only on the Visual Arts calendar, never mind its numerous hiatuses; but the event’s social, economic and political influence throughout this country’s general artistic history. Of these three important tenets to Zimbabwean identity, artwork has and continues to speak voluminously on the status quo and an understanding of the work can be used to peer into the situational experience of an era.
Starting at the end of the 1950s, the Annual Exhibition was launched to showcase the best and newest art in what was then known as Southern Rhodesia. What came through this initiative by the first director of the National Gallery, was a cosmopolitan exposition that had a mass appeal which pulled international attention to an upbeat country in Southern Africa.
What was special about the show was that it brought together individuals from across the social strata, a conservative white population who were amalgamating a bloc of three countries in Central Africa, found themselves sharing the same “four white walls” with a black population who had honed their crafting skills to create, fluent, vibrant art.
There was dissension to this mix, of course, as the organisers of the exhibition would receive hate-mail and spurning; all due to the enfranchisement of a new crop of recognised artists. There was a socio-economic impact that came with the showing of artworks by black artists, thematically and contextually most artworks carried indigenous overtones which were coupled with revolutionary sentiment; by the 1960s, free-thinkers were massive consumers of stone sculpture from Zimbabwe (Rhodesia) and the likes of Henry Munyaradzi, Thomas Mukarogbwa and Nicholas Mukomberanwa produced some of the most bankable artists across the board, this Golden Age marked the economic upturn for the artists of the time.
With the Chimurenga brewing through the 1970s, the exhibition went on hiatus, the artwork that was created in the period between 1973 and 1980 however, expressed the searing tensions of the day, war themes, pain, suffering and perseverance were the contextual references of many an artwork. When the Exhibition returned as the Zimbabwe Heritage in 1986, a new political order had made a step to promote and nurture the arts in a young country. Through vigorous support from Government, the market that had almost been lost during the Second Chimurenga, was re-engaged successfully and once again, visual art was alive.
A presidential commendation was available to artists who had contributed immensely to the development of visual art in Zimbabwe and through this, the level of artistic output and development was steadily on the rise. Zimbabwean art, once again, harnessed the attention of international art dealers, buyers and collectors. The exhibition grew stronger over a length of two decades until the turn of the century, whereas the nation felt the hard pinch of economic downturn; the exhibition now had to face another rebrand process as it became a biannual show. The purpose of the exhibition remained the same and the consumptive public also remained; as the first decade of the 21st century elapsed, crippling sanctions imposed on the nation spelt horror for the crop of local visual artists. The last Heritage Biannual took place in 2004, ushering in a period that was characterised by a general bleak and dreary outlook on life in the art world.
All haste a decade ahead, the Annual Exhibition returned with a fresh new insight which gave a descriptive narrative of life; defused entanglements with hardships, a highly buoyant substantiality to life and the makings of a nation on the rise. Though this may not be experienced in the everyday lives of Zimbabweans, the optimism that the reboot edition of the Zimbabwe Annual Exhibition in 2014, came with hope for the future and set the stage for greater things to come for the artists.
Mharidzo presents the contemporary situation in all its heights and breadths; the artist takes vantage point and captions the devotional apotheosis that is definitive of the current day. Many interpretations have been featured in this exhibition, with identity homing works such as Thomas Mwasangwale’s portrait of the Christ; whose lifted hands serve to provide proof to the biblical “Doubtful Thomas” that salvation can only come through a single means, which is through the self. The superfluous context of the message can somewhat reach a level where the viewer may question the political correctitude of Mwasangwale’s painting, which is however thwarted completely a placement of the artist’s character and notions to identity to myth. What results is faith in oneself, as to all the classic paragons, the personality that stands to avert distraction reaches actualization by developing its own soul regardless of fellowship and interdependence.
St Ignatius is composed of a landscape that is blended in with primary and tertiary colours which Mostaff Muchawaya uses to create the rolling mountainous scenery of the Shawasha Hills. Although these fields of colour present contrasts of calm and conflict; the foliage in the foreground, the distribution of light and shadow in the middle and the background broken by three pillars that stand as focal points. An appreciation of the nature surrounding one is experienced through this piece, and with matters such as environmental awareness taking top priority in the global community, a work that works from such an angle is heavily expressive.
Mharidzo explores the rites of passage for Zimbabwean contemporary art as well as showcase original work produced in the time period specified. Mharidzo seeks to provide an opportunity for resident Zimbabwean artists to tell their story using different mediums of sculpture, painting, photography, new media and installation. The National Gallery of Zimbabwe has always emphasised on encouraging artists to produce their best work which in turn saw artists showcasing creative and original work. It is a platform for Zimbabwean artists to show their work. National Gallery of Zimbabwe strives to select the finest possible works of visual art which spring from the fertile culture of the region and showcase them regionally and internationally.
Selection for the Zimbabwe Annual Exhibition was carried out by a jury that included Zimbabwe German Society Director, Taremeredzwa Chirewa; Art Educator, Tashinga Matindike-Gondo, veteran artists Thakor Patel and Taylor Nkomo, and artists cum newspaper columnist, Stephen Garan’anga. The Zimbabwe Annual Exhibition: Mharidzo will be open to the public tomorrow.
Online Reporter