admin
Entertainment Editor
Canadian-based Zimbabwean multi-disciplinary artist David Chinyama said visual art is less recognised in the country even though it plays a pivotal role that contributes to combating the menace of some of the societal ills and strengthening family.
Chinyama, who is on tour in Bavaria, Germany, where he hosted a solo exhibition, said that his paintings were more of social commentary and touch on all societal settings.
“Our challenges don’t start when we are faced with financial problems to assist artists,” he said. “We can say that our major problem is that sometimes visual art back home is not that much recognised and that contributes to our failure to attract sponsors and funders.
“What needs to be done to improve the visual art sector in Zimbabwe is to start by supporting it I have always felt that lack of funding has hurt the growth of the arts in Zimbabwe despite having immense talent amongst our creatives.”
Chinyama said his wish was to see an increase in funding and support for the arts and culture sector in Zimbabwe that will enable growth and development.
“The relevant ministry has to come up with vibrant policies that encourage participation, involvement and direct funding of artist initiatives by the private sector as well as community engagement in all arts and cultural programmes.
“I also suggest that they should develop the visual art section in the sector from the grassroots level, and have workshops across the country.”
The talented visual artist said another challenge was lack of facilities to train aspiring artists.
“Somehow, it seems those in the diaspora are fortunate enough to tour or have exhibitions, but before we can produce the best artists, and painters, our difficulties start at the ordinary level where they cannot be developed due to financial constraints and lack of facilities.”
Chinyama pleaded with local authorities to ensure that community halls and recreational facilities were opened for artists to utilise them to learn to paint that unites people.
Commenting on some of the pieces he is exhibiting, Chinyama said family played an important role in shaping a community.
This is revealed in some of his pieces trending on social media where he is using the media platform to share his work.
“Family names are like flowers, they blossom in clusters’ is a piece that is part of a new body of works that I have created since the beginning of the year.
“I am excited with this new work as I feel my career has been rejuvenated with this new approach that marks a turnaround in my career as an artist.” Chinyama said he could not remember how long it took him to paint the piece as he described it as, “work in progress.”
“My working process involves working with several pieces at any given time,” he said. “I do not consider the time frames of when a piece was started or finished. The duration of how long each piece takes to create often depends on the connection I have with each piece.
“You would find that certain pieces would take me several days to create, some weeks while others would take months. Sometimes some would get completely forgotten, go for years without being completed, or even end up repainted.” The Toronto-based artist said so far his pieces are sold in Canada.
“This piece was part of a curated collection that I showcased at the 62nd Toronto Outdoor Art Fair (TOAF) which ran between July 2 and 9,” said Chinyama. “I have a solo show currently running in Bavaria, Germany, until the end of European summer.”
Chinyama said his work in the foreign land was being well received.
“I would say my work has been relatively received abroad, right from the early days’ I got opportunities to showcase as a young artist.
“I feel privileged to have so many people out there that have supported my artistic career by collecting my art as well as different galleries that have invested their time in offering spaces to represent my work. Being resident in Canada has also strategically positioned and enabled me to find a niche market for myself in North America.”
Chinyama was discovered by Pattie Pink in 1995, who enrolled him for formal art classes at Peter Birch School of Art in Harare. So far, he has hosted more than 11 international solo exhibitions, and over 30 international group exhibitions. In 2005 and 2013, Chinyama won the National Art Merit Awards for “Outstanding Two-Dimension Work”.
He has permanent collections in the following institutions –The National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Parliament of Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Heritage Trust, Polish Consulate, US, Canadian, Vatican, and Dutch embassies in Harare, as well as various Zimbabwean Government agencies, corporations, and private organisations.
Online Reporter