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Sophia Chese-Msowa Arts Correspondent
Seeing an old man assisting his young son to mould a cow out of clay down in the villages of Nyanga where he spent his partly childhood drove something within him.
He had a hidden love for art that he did not feel, but the sight of such creativity pushed the subtle passion out.
On that day Tatenda Mutseyekwa told himself that he wanted to be a visual artist, but he was just a little boy who did not know where to start.
Back in the city, the passion continued burning in him as he watched cartoons on television and made sketches of the characters at school.
“We had a black and white television set and used to watch cartoons. One day, I was caught by my teacher drawing some of the cartoon characters I used to watch and she could not even believe I had made the images.
“That is when I discovered that I was really talented and my passion grew,” said Mutseyekwa.
The problem was that there was no art subject at the school he was attending. Fortunately, in his last year of primary education, he was transferred to a private school where he started doing art as a subject. He then got a scholarship to study in Boston, United States of America, and continued doing art .
“I went to Stanford University in Califonia where I studied Economics, but that did not stop me from doing my art work. I even exhibited some of my works at the university and people knew me as an artist and gave me a nickname Zimbabwean Nightmare,” he said.
After staying in the US for some time, Mutseyekwa decided to come back home to start his businesses as well as to tell his Zimbabwean story through art to his own people who could understand him better.
Having been inspired by Vincent van Gogh drawings which he described as realistic paintings, Mutseyekwa’s has a house studio which is full of paintings that tell different stories about the history of the country.
He describes his works as a social commentary.
On one of his paintings is an image titled “Sir Robert and the Queen” taken from the President’s picture with the Queen of England.
To Mutseyekwa, the picture means a lot to the people of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwean history.
“When I first exhibited the painting, some white people were shocked to see it forgetting that the Queen respects our President so much. To us Zimbabweans I feel it means a lot and it is part of our history that should not be thrown to the dogs,” said Mutseyekwa.
Another painting is of the President and First Lady’s wedding which Mutseyekwa described as a “high-profile wedding” which should be kept in the country’s archives.
He also has a painting that tells a story on the “Hondo Yeminda” era. All his paintings are real life images that tell an important story of the country’s history.
“It is gratifying when you paint a picture of someone and people are able to recognise him/her. When I exhibited at the Wild Geese Art Festival, one person identified the woman in the ‘Hondo Yeminda’ painting and told me that she was now living in the Nertherlands,” he said.
Being an entrepreneur and also as an artist is the best thing that has happened to Mutseyekwa who has been balancing the two and making a good living out of it.
“Being an artist is a wonderful thing but being a starving artist is just difficult. My mentor, Enrique Chagoya, an arts professor in Stanford, told me that I’m a great artist but encouraged me to continue with my job saying I should never quit.
“To me art also works as a way of relaxing after a long day at work but I am sure time will come for me to reap the benefits of it and maybe think of quitting my job, but for now I balance the two,” he said.
He first exhibited his works at the Harare International Festival of the Arts in 2014 and showcased at the just-ended Wild Geese Art Festival.
Online Reporter