adminpanel of art jurists from USA, UK, France, New Zealand, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Nigeria and Kenya, made a collective commentary on the state of the visual arts in the then, new nation.
This coincided with the 8th Summit of Non-Aligned States, held in Harare, Zimbabwe, at the launching of the Zimbabwe Government’s First 5-year Development Plan.
They said, “The multiple creative traditions being merged in the new nation will ensure the creation of a dynamic cultural base for Zimbabwe. What is clear, however, is the urgent necessity for a major institution of higher artistic training.”
After 31 years of Independence, the proposed Zimbabwean School of the Arts remains a pipe dream! What transpired in the interim?
Following our independence in 1980, many aborted attempts have been made to introduce a Sadc Regional School of the Arts, under the auspices of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe. In the late 1980’s and early
1990’s, funding was sourced primarily from the European Union and other International cultural funding donors.
Land was allocated, somewhere along the Bulawayo Road, on the periphery of the Harare CBD. This writer sat in on the initial committee meetings at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe prior to being awarded a scholarship to further studies in the arts abroad in 1993.
It has since been alleged that the funding was diverted for other purposes – unrelated to the building of a Sadc regional Art School and the land was forfeited.
Needless to say, other neighbouring regional countries have since ignored the Zimbabwean prototype Sadc School of Art proposal initiated and based in Harare, and have independently through their own government efforts built their national schools and other art Institutions. A case in point is the alliance formed between the Government of Botswana and the Botswana society of the Arts who were allocated 10,3 hectares of land in Gaborone, in May 2001, as part of their National Development Plan (9/2003/4-2007/8).
Through encouragement from their Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs, the Ministry of Culture and private business philanthropy in Botswana, have since fulfilled their goal.
Where does that leave Zimbabwe today? Given it’s already world famed contemporary stone sculpture, paintings and installations, the building of a Zimbabwean School of the Arts would be a defining force in the country’s progress towards becoming a significant player in the African and International art and business world.
The potential for the arts to fetch an estimated US$2,7 billion in revenue for the economy is highly feasible according to recent studies.
It is time to make the Zimbabwe National Arts Institute a comprehensive and committed reality that has the capacity to positively turn about our evolving creative economy.
A School of the Arts is an urgently required national cultural asset. This writer has the blue print to make this project a reality.
- Dr Tony Mhonda holds an International PhD in Post-Modern Art Theory, and a DBA (Doctorate in Business Administration) of Post-Colonial Heritage Studies. He is also a practising artist, designer, curator, critic and a corporate image lecturer/consultant.
Londile Moyo
Bongani Ndlovu