Leisure Reporters —
THOUGH the buzz about visual arts in the country is not that high compared to other genres, this has not stopped locals from venturing into the domain that has seen some establishing successful career paths.
Last week scores of students from Chinhoyi University of Technology held their first solo exhibitions as part of the requirements to complete the Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Creative Art and Design.
Among them were Tariro Kamangira, Simbarashe Manhenda, Lazarus Safarawo, Calvin Mangwanya and Brighton Dambudzo, who all exhibited at Herald House. A number of their colleagues also exhibited for three days from Tuesday to Thursday in different cities and towns.
The Sunday Mail Leisure visited several exhibitions, and our reporter Takudzwa Chihambakwe, a visual art aficionado, spoke to Tsungayi Kaseke, whose works were on display at Raylton Sports Club in the capital.
“I decided to venture into this field with the hope that one day I will be one of the most successful ones,” declared Kaseke.
“This exhibition is actually my final exam and am hoping that all the hard work I have invested in art my whole life leading up to this day will pay off. For a solid four years I have been preparing for this and am really glad to see friends and relatives coming through to my exhibition, which I have titled ‘Mixed Expressions’,” said the talented Kaseke, who expressed delight at the interest her work attracted from collectors.
Kaseke also explained the theme “Mixed Expressions”: “The mixed part comes from the fact that most of the pieces are from my different years at university. So we have a mixture of work I produced when I was still a first year student to work that I worked on recently as I finished my fourth year.
“For the ‘expressions’ part, I have used various elements to express myself – I have used paint, graphite, computer for most of the posters and some three dimensional pieces too among many others.”
The works that made up her exhibition were phenomenal – one could tell that there was a lot of effort put into the project and with such passion burning within her, she has a bright future.
Her major strength is that in her simplicity there is a lot of complexity. Many who attended the exhibition had varying opinions on their interpretation of each piece of work exhibited.
Speaking on her source of inspiration she said, “One person who inspires me in Zimbabwe, though he is exclusively a sculptor is Dominic Benhura.
“The level of his artistry is unmatched and most of his works exude a lot of emotion, such that even when he is not around when you looking at his artefacts you somehow connect to the message he was conveying. One day I want to reach such levels,” she asserted.
On her plan after school she said, “For now I will be focusing mainly on graphic designing, particularly doing adverts for different organisations. I had been doing this while at school and I believe there is a gap in the market that I can fill with my skills, drawing and painting, as I prepare to penetrate local, regional and international markets.”
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