Chronicle Editor
Tafadzwa Chibukwa, Showbiz Reporter
HAVING had to deal with anxiety and sleepless nights in preparation for his solo exhibition in Bulawayo, visual artist Zibusiso “Zie” Tshuma from Gwanda was stunned by the huge number of people who attended his exhibition launch.
All his sleepless nights really paid off with great appreciation.
Launched last Friday at Alliance Francaise De Bulawayo, the visual artist’s solo exhibition titled “Little things that matter” which has 15 art pieces on display commanded a full house. The exhibition is running up to May 6.
Zie’s art is centred around human figures, especially faces with different patterns in different colours which represent peoples’ emotions and feelings in different aspects of life. He said the title of his collection, “Little things that matter” was inspired by a statement from one of his high school teachers that made him realise how much little things that are taken for granted, contribute to the social structure.
The young artist is proud to have set the bar high as the massive crowd in attendance loved his work. All cheerful and jovial, with wide smiles of satisfaction, the crowd could not get enough of his work. Some were captured taking pictures with the art pieces with most congratulating him for pulling it off.
The venue proved too small with someone in the audience heard saying: “they should have staged his exhibition at a bigger venue.”
What was more impressive was the great attendance by people for an art exhibition, something which has always been unmanageable and unseen.
Overwhelmed and humbled, Zie said this was a great start for him adding that he feels he is destined to go bigger.
“I’m happy about such a huge attendance by the people. What impressed me more is that from the crowd, I only knew about 20 percent of them. People really loved my work. Most of them said they were amazed by the detail, and the way I manipulate shapes, sizes and colours.
“Most of the work was new to people. I had been working on this body of work for months, kept it private, and unveiled it on the day so it was really a unique experience for most of them,” said Zie.
The massive turnout has boosted Zie’s confidence and morale to a level that he himself cannot believe.
“The whole experience is overwhelming. The support and love from people telling you how much they appreciate you are a confidence booster. I cannot believe that my efforts and sleepless nights are finally paying off,” he said. — @Sagepapie14
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