daniel chigunweMarytise Vambayi and Kudzaishe Muhamba
Art is one of the important aspects of life that has transformed people through teachings, while providing employment to many.
With various forms of art, society has been shaped, contributing immensely to cultural exchanges at both local and international levels.
These were some of the lessons learnt by Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Creative Art and Industrial Design students at the Chinhoyi University of Technology.
Shingai Mabika and Natasha Mapurisa recently held an exhibition to showcase what they learnt at the university running under the theme “Exhaling Creativity and My Identity”.
Speaking at the art exhibition, National Arts Council of Zimbabwe provincial arts manager, William Ndinde, said art was the embodiment of life and the title of the exhibition aptly summed up the importance of art and culture.
“Artistic creativity yearns to be expressed, artistic creativity detonates identity, hence exhaling creativity and identity is what these two artists are precisely doing through this exhibition.
“One’s identity remains critical to one’s being. Identity is key to human life and identity defines who we are, our ethos and philosophy.
“Through such exhibitions, Zimbabwe stands out in the community of nations proudly flaunting her identity through artistic expressions. Today artistic creativity is not being carried out for art’s sake, but indeed as an important component of the economy and the world over, economic development is now being inspired by the arts and culture.”
Ndinde encouraged Mabika and Mapurisa to soldier on and scale greater heights through delving into developing industrial designs that are artistically inspired.
“The significance of this exhibition is that it is entirety the efforts of students still in pursuit of becoming accomplished experts and this event is a critical milestone reached in their learning trajectory,” he said.
Mabika, who put up the show, said it was a success and they were looking forward to hosting other bigger shows in the future.
“It was a successful event that served its purpose. Students had an appreciation of what art is like and how people are living large out there because of art.”
Mabika said their next exhibition would rope in more artists.
“With this exhibition, we hope that students around the country will understand what art is and its role in transforming society,” she said.
Mapurisa said the exhibitions will continue because artists use their talent to express how life can be defined and enjoyed.
She said their experience will bring the artistic career closer to students and those who attended the exhibition so that they have an appreciation of what the art industry is like and what it has to offer.
“As artists, we express our views through art and my hope is that people will recognise our artistic works.”
Online Reporter