Shamiso Yikoniko
The slow recovery of the economy has impacted negatively on some of the major sectors in the country and the art industry has been hard hit.

Most galleries are facing closure as the buy as an unnecessary luxury.

The imminent closure of Chapungu Sculpture Park will signal the fall of a giant whose heavy thud will be felt by many stakeholders.

Art with Shamiso Yikoniko
The above adage is finding full expression through an exhibition being showcased at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe titled “A tale of two cities: koBulawayo and eHarare”.

Often considered as the world’s most accomplished figurative sculptor working in stone today, the second-generation award-winning sculptor, Lazarus Takawira, is raring to go.

Whilst I might have not had the chance to meet with the late exceptionally talented and multi-award-winning female sculptor Colleen Madamombe, seeing her work being displayed all over the world gives me the reason to celebrate a life well lived.

Benjamin Disraeli once said: “The secret of success is consistency of purpose.”

By engaging artists who make a substantial amount of work that interrogate issues from both pre-colonial and post-colonial eras, the “Unevenness” exhibition, currently running at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe provides an insight into the power wars currently taking place all over the globe.

The National Gallery is currently holding an exhibition titled “Visionary Africa: Art at Work” where four different segments of the exhibition are running concurrently.
“Mifananidzo yeZimbabwe Ndiyo Nhorowondo Yedu: Images of Zimbabwe are Our Narratives,” being my main port of call.

Art, in all its varied forms, has always been viewed as apt leisure; not much of a necessity but the interest of idle minds.

The “Objects of Mediation” exhibition currently running at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe captures the power, importance and function of African material objects.
The scope of this exhibition includes the talking drums from Nigeria, Tonga drums from Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia, mbira and rattles, beadwork including love-letters, the varied ritual masks mainly from West Africa and figures, clay pots, oil jars, divination tablets, axes and costumes that are used during ancestral spirit ceremonies.
This exhibition focuses on the objects themselves and the social contexts in which they are embedded and linking objects to ritual, ideological and symbolic worlds.
Material cultural objects in any context are envisaged as an articulate body of beliefs and practices that are dynamic and consist of several meanings that are visible and invisible.

The National Gallery of Zimbabwe hosted a series of exciting visual arts- related activities in line with the spirit of the Harare International Festival of the Arts (Hifa).
There was something for everyone and people of varying ages and tastes got a treat. Children had the opportunity to participate in a number of sessions such as the Magical Mask Making Workshop, Culture Box Workshop, Story Telling sessions and face painting. These sessions saw the gallery packed with children, rendering the festival a huge success.