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At The Gallery
The ongoing Zimbabwe Annual Exhibition has served well as a means to gauge the level of Zimbabwean visual art. In an exhibition which the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, the Andrew Langa described as a collection of works that reflected strong will power and self-determination, the Zimbabwe Annual Exhibition presents the outlook of visual artists from all over the country and embodies a reclamation of place and knowledge as to what it is to be Zimbabwean.
As the question of identity was addressed in a majority of the artworks, the highly emotive and physical energy laden found object sculpture by Tawanda Takura is dramatic. The metal-framed anatomy with musculature mostly composed of discarded rubber shoe soles is a representation of movement and endurance. The sculpture entitled “Unfinished Thoughts” won First Prize from over 90 pieces being showcased.
“Unfinished Thoughts” is highly expressive as the figure is in a crouching stance, the nature of the movement is of a distinct toiling nature.
According to the artist “Unfinished Thoughts” was representative of the tough times and trials the artist faced in his life. The use of worn down soles for the sculptures flesh, muscle and sinew give the piece an air of realism; the treads define muscle and direction, each sole emphasizes the expansion and constriction of flesh on the human body and the figure’s positioning exclaims the presence of some burdensome force upon this downward facing figures form against which it acts resiliently to enforce the illusion of forward thrusting movement, left arm raised with detail on the fingers dramatically reaching out towards the immaterial condition that is survival.
The figure is headless and radiates anomalistic subtlety playing on the title the subject matter of the absence of the head cavity which is unrelated to the laborious journey detailed in the body of work to incorporate the continuance of the “sketchy” hand. The balance of the work is most interesting as it stands as a tripod and distributes the weight of the skeletal frame evenly and upon consideration, the proportions of the work are to scale with the tension of deportment vividly exposed.
The overall connotation of the “Unfinished Thoughts” is attached to the found objects that carry within their ruggedness the stories of a multiplicity of journeys from around Zimbabwe; taken individually and attached to a person to be outmoded at the end of their time of use. In this dynamic means, Takura manages to express the Zimbabwean experience through one sculpture made from very personal objects, the greater part of the work’s conversation with the viewer is how the “sole” is embodying the ‘soul’ outside the skeletal frame.
The Zimbabwe Annual Exhibition runs until Tuesday January 20 at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare.
Online Reporter