The exhibition focussing on the traditional craft of basket-making and domestic clay containers, at the National Art Gallery, has provided a unique way of celebrating specific cultural identities from many ethnic groups across the country.

The exhibition, which ran under the theme “Narrative Vessel” began on February 12 and ended last week on Thursday.
This exhibition traced a narrative that began with the domestic containers and progressively moved away from the private intimate object to an art that spills into the public domain.

What is significant is the extent to which this exhibition was informed by the shape of the vessels, whose history mirrors the anxiety surrounding the status of the objects in modern and contemporary art.
Several pots, baskets and other vessels transform into significant stories although their original purpose was often only a humble record of family events and the artistic prowess of mainly women back in the days.

Curator of the exhibition Ms Lilian Chaonwa said: “Most of the pottery and basketry are transformed into stories even though original purposes were only a humble record of family events.”

For thousands of years, pottery has been an integral facet of societies. From transporting water, preservation of milk, feeding domestic animals and cooking, humans have relied on potters and their trade. Without such pots, many civilisations would have found a challenging progression ahead of them.
The familiarity of the traditional vessels enables it to cross from the private domain into the public sphere and back again.
The vessels hold secrets within them regarding their real narratives but lie open to reinterpretation.
These vessels have a past, a present and an infinitely variable future. These pieces narrate both fact and fiction.

This relationship between the functional and the non-functional, the disposable and the precious, is one theme that emerges in the works featured in this exhibition.
The vessels featured in the recently ended exhibition have the ability to communicate across time and in contexts different contexts to those for which they were originally created, sometimes acquiring meanings that their makers may not have intended for them to convey.
This shows that they communicate a message that goes beyond the merely decorative while provoking a thought response in the viewer.
Pottery, however, doesn't only reflect the function it was created for but often is a work of art in its own right. Changes in style and type of pottery occurred in response to social, economic and technical demands, and for this reason pottery is closely integrated with the development of several different civilisations from the earliest times up to the present day.

This exhibition, therefore, was meant to revive a Zimbabwean art that merges traditional practice with contemporary styles and techniques to produce unique objects, standing not just as utilitarian objects but as credible art pieces, as well as valuable sources of information about a society.
The exhibition mirrors the status of life in modern and contemporary art on clay pots and other various sculptural elements.

Made from clay, sisal, reed and wood, the vessels relate to a story, communicate a message that goes beyond the merely decorative and provokes a thought and a response in the viewer.

Many tribes have survived in areas heavily protected by natural barriers such as forests, mountains, deserts or seas. Their pottery, for the most part, reflects a social need and a culture that has been subsistent since the beginning of time. This thread of cultural pottery, however, is far-fetched in the modern civilised world, and consists only in the few studios that potters work their trade in today.

The skill and innovation demonstrated in making these objects have seen them elevated from the realm of craft to be recognised as art.
For instance, zoomorphic clay pots shown in this exhibition reveal a combination of sculpture and pottery-making.
The twin-mouthed clay pots and wicker-worked vessels display a high level of creative decoration and embellishment that was dictated by their utilitarian purposes.
Vessels in this show are more than simple manifestations of utilitarian objects which can stand their own in terms of design and artistic merit.

Silas Matope co-curated with Chaonwa for the exhibition of these artefacts.
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