Zim empowers women visual artists

are equally shrewd, a critical bond of our family structures, fosterage of children, constitute the majority of the population amongst various things, yet for far too long they have been marginalised in numerous developmental aspects by various oppressive past traditional laws.
In recent years major steps have been undertaken to correct the imbalances though the cause still meets some stiff resistance from the unrepentant.
On the Zimbabwean art scene, the recognition of the need to give women more developmental opportunities is at the core of many art institutions and it seems to be getting unwavering support from various sectors.
This was evident in a recently held art exhibition and auction at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe themed “Continental Dialogues”, sponsored by the EU.
The EU has over the years fund-raised for the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in partnership with the Friends of the National Gallery (FoG).
While selecting artworks for the exhibition, the adjudicating team deliberately sought to encourage female participation, a testimony of their belief in and respect for gender equality.
Another art exhibition titled “3 Thoughts” currently on at Gallery Delta Foundation for art and the humanities is showcasing artworks by three female artists who include two upcoming young dynamic ladies Portia Zvavahera and Virginia Chihota and the established Helen Lieros.
Since the beginning of the year 2011 the Spanish Embassy through “The Zimbo Jam”, has been sponsoring “Pikicha” monthly photography competitions with various themes relevant to Zimbabweans’ way of life.
The competitions began with “Rebuilding our Country” as the month of January’s theme, followed by “Love” for February, “In the Eyes of a Child” that focused on children and young people in March and the current theme for April “Keep it Green” meant to focus on issues of environmental degradation, pollution and the beautiful scenes of nature.
The final month of the competition is June which is open to women and girls only and their images should focus on the role of women in society today. This is in a way to see how the women see other women, the positives, the negatives, the well known and the untold.
The theme “Women by Women” will run after the forth- coming “Albinos” theme which is intended to highlight the day-to-day way of life of our people with albinism who are widely misunderstood by the majority.
In another development, the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare in collaboration with Courteney Hotel are calling for female artists in Zimbabwe to participate in an exhibition for women by women.
Interested female artists are requested to create paintings of their choice guided by the theme “Beauty of Creation”, particularly looking at the environment. This show serves to recognise the artistic talent in Zimbabwe and women are being are being offered an opportunity to creatively express themselves through painting.
The criteria being used for the show is that all artworks submitted will go under selection by a jury and 50 paintings will be exhibited at Courteney Hotel from May 27 to June 27 2011. The deadline for submission is May 2, 2011 at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare. To be part of the show, female artists should collect forms at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe that will accompany their artworks.
l Stephen Garan’anga is an international fine art practitioner, independent art projects co-ordinator, chairperson of AfricanColours Artists, executive member Batapata International Artists’ Workshop and critical visual arts writer amongst other things. He can be contacted on [email protected]