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At the Gallery
After a whirlwind tour of Zimbabwe’s Art communities, centres and towns, the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe’s (Potraz) Outdoor Sculpture Competition Call entered the homestretch last weekend at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe. A panel of six adjudicated over 50 entries from artists, submitted in small prototype form either in plaster, stone or clay; to ultimately create an artwork to be installed at the Potraz national headquarters in the suburbs of Harare.
The jury constituted of three Potraz managers, a professional visual arts consultant and the National Gallery of Zimbabwe’s Curatorial Department, led by chief curator Raphael Chikukwa.
In an intensive study of submitted artworks, the jury peppered upon the responsive nature of the sculpture prototypes in line with Potraz’s mission to regulate the communications sector by ensuring provision of universal communication services for sustainable development. A majority of the submissions were highly interpretive of the mission, which made the chance of identifying the winner of the competition much more arduous.
The competition commenced with an outreach programme for the Outdoor Sculpture Competition back in August, starting at Chitungwiza Art Centre.
The centre is a meeting point for most artists based in the dormitory town and has 200 artists practising on rotational basis. The launch of the competition was interactive as a question and answer session was coordinated in order to enlighten the artists on the background of Potraz and what their artworks were supposed to reflect.
From Chitungwiza the National Gallery of Zimbabwe Curatorial Department moved on to Tsindi Gallery in Hatfield; Friends Forever and Ruwa Art Gallery in Ruwa, Dominic Studios in Greendale, Tafara and Mabvuku Artists Association in Tafara, Pamvura Arts Centre in Mvurwi and Tengenenge Sculptural Community in Guruve. The call also took to the National Galleries of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo and Mutare respectively. As the knowledge of the competition was taken across the nation, the evaluation of Zimbabwean artists’ dexterity and responsiveness to the values of corporations and Government entities stands highly appreciable.
After developing a partnership with the loaning of works from the National Gallery of Zimbabwe’s Permanent Collection, Potraz shifted into the phase of owning their own collection, a collection that would be reflective of their vision, mission and values.
In 2018, the authority moved to engage the National Gallery towards congregating artists to an end of executing a public sculpture for their headquarters, a move that enriches their image and empowers local artists.
After deliberations are made by the jury, there will be a shortlist of artists who will also go through consideration by the jury.
The winner of the Potraz Outdoor Sculpture Competition will be announced and commissioned by the Authority to execute a large scale Public Sculpture at their Headquarters in Harare after an announcement that is slated to be made in the middle of this month.
The sculpture will be unveiled at the Potraz Headquarters at the end of the year.
Online Reporter