Tabvezera Exhibition

Book by Zvikomborero Mandangu

2013Harare Polytechnic in conjunction with U.S Embassy (PAS)

TabveZera

Ambassador David Abell

(Deputy Chief Of Missions)

abvezera was a presentation of something that has a certain je nais se qoi. Having

spent two years of study with Maradze Shonhiwa and a year with Nyenyewa; the Tcommon factor is an end. Not the end. Here is two Artists whom have gone through

an education but answered a calling long before they entered the doors of The Art

Department. With Memory Gurupira the feeling, as getting to know her and understand

her work is concerned, one finds this calling also coming long before the institution trained

her. Artists are born and not made. It is a critical argument that goes through, in echoes; the

halls of academies, at cognoscente's high tables and through the grey matter of free

thinkers who are but slaves to time. It is a personal belief. You have it or you do not. Two

percent of this world are artists. Clearly, those who conceive it. Training creates Artists, true.

Trained artists matter. Born Artist is just better!

So this is the end, an end rather for these three who have come of age. In that end is the

legendary world that they now must go out into, to face it and to capture its ugly face, or the

human idea that corrupts the natural aspect of it; Maradze Shonhiwa, Gurupira and

Nyenyewa-magi in the face of obscurity, diseconomy and straightjacket ignorance.

Newfound wisdom will now come to present itself in their work and for the viewer; the

future is through Tabvezera a foundation of an Age of clarity.

Orero - Harare 2013

EPILOGUETabvezera Exhibition

“Artists are born and not made. It is a critical argument that goes through, in echoes; the halls of academies, at

cognoscente's high tables and through the grey matter of

free thinkers who are but slaves to time.”

Zvikomborero ‘Orero’Mandangu

Tabvezera marks the threshold of Independent thinking and acting for

the artist freshmen who now have to find new ways to connect and relate

themselves to the Novel art universe. Art is a complex sea of ideas,

activities and phenomenon that eventually need to be packaged for

public consumption and benefit. It is rather unfortunate that the stalwart

approach to art teaching currently existing in our nation can be linear and

thereby promoting anti-progressive thinking. This reflects itself in the

inability of the system to holistically empower the freshman with other

skills apart from craft, to enable him to augment his practice. Often the

freshman has to employ survival skills and teach himself the art of

resourcefulness. The new artist faces many obstacles that he has to

overcome chief among them, the national absence of structures to

support and sustain visual art .The new artist has to question convention

and think of new ways to present himself and his practice. Tabvezera is an

exclamation not only for freshman but for every artist who realizes the

imperative need to take matters into their own hands. Sokunge (as if)

Masimba Hwati - 2013

“Art is a complex sea of ideas, activities and phenomenon that eventually need to

be packaged for public consumption . . .”

Exhibition Curator

Foreword

Words From The Author Of Tabvezera:

“Zvakaoma kufadza meso evaoni kuburikidza nezviumbwa kana mifananidzo yatinotara, asi chokwadi ndechekuti ndinowana dzikinuro kuva mhizha. Ndinowana dzikinuro kuburikidza nemabasa angu iwaya. Zvinogona kuoma usiku hose asi mufaro unouya mangwanani. Ndinotsvakawo kuzikamwa kuburikidza nechiitiko“Tabvezera”. Hongu ndakavamba ukama uhu asi hazvireve kuti ndabudirira mumabasa iwaya eumhizha asi zvichabuda mushure mazvo. Ndakava nerudo nekuumba nemadhaka pandaikura ndichiiona ambuya vangu (nyakutumbura baba) vachiuumba hari dzinoti mhirimo,hadyana,pfuko,mbiya nedzimwewo mhando dzehari. Kungozvifungachete kuti vakatoraramisa mhuri yavo yaiva nevana vasere kuburikidza nekuumba hari zvinondipa zororo mupfungwa kuti tarenda ndiyo mhinduro mukurarama kwedu vanhu. Zvino mabiko aya ndinoapa kwavari ndichivarangarira- Ambuya Madhuve (Vhanjerista Shonhiwa)”

“It is difficult to convince the eye of the viewer through an art work but one thing for sure is that I find pleasure by just being in the right environment and position to share my thoughts with an amicable audience. I find pleasure talking through my work. It might prove difficult in the night but joycomes in the morning. I seek recognition in this exhibit “Tabvezera” (coming of age). Having to initiate the partnership between the two parties does not guarantee my success however but what shall come out of it. I fell in love with clay when I first set eyes on my grandmothers molded clay pots-mhirimo, hadyana, pfuko, mbiya and other types of clay pots. Just the fact that she looked after her family of eight siblings from the proceeds of making pottery in the rural area brings me pleasure. It confirms that talent is all we need to make a living. This exhibition is a tribute to her- mbuya Madhuve (Evangelista Shonhiwa) “

Shonhiwa 2013

Statements such as these from mid-career and neophyte artists capture the factual pulse of the city, today in 2013.Their vision tells of the here and now, with statements reaching out to challenge us to create a better and brighter tomorrow.The visual arts are a recognised national attribute of the country. These young artists from the Harare Polytechnic attest to the originality, creativity, wisdom and foresight of Zimbabwean people. They have elucidated the multiple facets of our social collective life as a nation. It is only befitting that they receive the patronage and support of the public, for posterity and leave carbon-freefootprints in the vision of the youth of tomorrow. These new artists have played their part in creating new horizons for the future of art in Zimbabwean society. Curated by Masimba Hwati a prominent professional artist and Visual Arts Lecturer, the show was opened by the Deputy Ambassador and well-co-ordinated by Jillian Bonnardeaux, the Deputy Public Affairs Officer is currently on display in the library at the Public Affairs section of the Embassy of the United States at Eastgate.facets of our social collective life as a nation. It is only befitting that they receive the patronage and support of the public, for posterity and leave carbon-freefootprints in the vision of the youth of tomorrow. These new artists have played their part in creating new horizons for the future of art in Zimbabwean society. Curated by Masimba Hwati a prominent professional artist and Visual Arts Lecturer, the show was opened by the Deputy Ambassador and well-co-ordinated by Jillian Bonnardeaux, the Deputy Public Affairs Officer is currently on display in the library at the Public Affairs section of the Embassy of the United States at Eastgate.

A multi-media exhibition of Visual Art by Harare Polytechnic students Tendayi Shonhiwa, Memory Gurupira and Pius Nyenyewa at the US Information Services, Eastgate, Harare

In an exhibition being held at the United States Public Affairs section at the Gold Bridge in Eastgate Complex, in the city- Harare Polytechnic final year Art students, Tendayi Maradze Shonhiwa, Memory Gurupira and Pius Nyenyewa present an increasingly sophisticated manner of using visual art to challenge social preconceptions and to enter into debate about the current state of socio-environmental affairs.If art in Zimbabwe is to be seen as a barometer of our socio-cultural milieu and our environment, both natural and man-made, then their Art exhibition Tabvezera, (Coming of Age), bears testimony to this idea. The cultural and aesthetic manifestations of present-day Zimbabwe take into consideration various socio-cultural environments, and set the tone for re-planning the future egalitarian society in Zimbabwe, which many young artists and citizens aspire to.Among the young artists taking part in this exhibition are those that aspire for socio-cultural progress and question the history and current existence of environmental and cultural disorder clearly visible in many urban spaces of Zimbabwe today.They draw the viewer to reflect not only on new methods and modes of art making, but also on important socio-cultural facets of our collective life as Zimbabweans.These respective young artists have become more introspective and more questioning on what makes us Zimbabweans and on the space we occupy. The work displayed is not negative or confrontational; rather it draws our attention to a positive and pro-active ideology of recouping, recycling and rearranging discarded material and creating thought-provoking art out of urban debris.Paintings, photographs, prints and assemblages depicting the varying rural and urban realities that affect us, as citizens, and transform the urban landscape into imagery makes the work accessible, visual and conversational. The artworks give us an insight into the role that art and culture can play in weaving the social fabric of our daily lives and rehabilitating the urban chaos found in our urban environment.

Dr Tony MondaArt writer and critic

Dr. Tony Monda holds a PhD in Post-Modern Art Theory and a Doctorate in Business Administration( DBA) in Post-Colonial Art and Heritage Studies. He also holds a Law and Art Diploma from Georgetown University, Washington D .C . , a n d w o rk e d w i th WA LA ( Wa s h i n g t o n A r e a L a w y e r s Association). He studied law and photography at the Corcoran School of Art, Washington, DC., USA. He is also a practicing artist, art critic, author, d es ig n e r a n d Co rp o ra t e Im a ge Consultant

Tendayi Maradze ShoniwaArtists and their works- By Orero

It was in January 2008 when I first met him. 'Zhopa' the tall lanky figure behind me called. I turned and was tongue-tied as if I was caught in some parallel boundary somewhere off in Asia: guns pointing at me from both sides. Must I respond to this man? Who is he and what is he saying? I said to myself. Accordingly I did what any able bodied seaman would do and repeated his greeting forthwith. Today conversations in this fanalago ranged from football

to politics, current affairs to computer games and even the location as to which fabric shop sold the cloth that made most of the garments worn by most of the characters in Rupert the

Bear and its subsequent being blown by a separatist movement of power mice.'Zhopa' I replied. This is how I often communicate with Tendayi Maradze Shonhiwa.

Many a time has been spent talking of football derbies here and elsewhere. In common we share the support for Dynamos Football

Club: 'De, de, De-mbare' with a vengeance. Reminiscing another moment in our first year at an art school, an instructor asked why we chose art?The usual poesy about Art being beautiful, Art making money and so on, was chanted as the instructor composed the flow of the dialogue as a conductor before his players. When it came to Tendayi, his answer was like the first stage of a novel narrated in the first person-say A Clockwork Orange!“Ever since I could remember… I have always loved football” the class burst into laughter, he continued “football is fluid, it has set rules and I wanted to be a good footballer” at this point the instructor , more confused than amused attempted to halt Tendayi's David Copperfield account, alas, he continued, “I had an injury-so I could not be a soccer player”Today one thinks of this statement. This story is of an artist who has his sport at heart and his heart at sport. It is like Duchamp's' obsession with chess. Manet's with ballet, the Blaue Reiter group and their horses; football is Tendayi's stream of consciousness which you cannot switch off; in as much as you

cannot switch off his Art!

Tendayi Maradze ShoniwaArtists and their works

Spirited Forms

Tendayi Maradze ShoniwaArtists and their works

Tendayi Maradze ShoniwaArtists and their works

For all I know I've been an artist ever since I can remember, from preschool through primary level and even went on to be president of Msengezi Art Club 2007.

It's only after high school I figured out I had no interest in anything like law, medicine, or

accounting like the rest of the bunch of teens my age but only wanted to be

known for my punch kicking art, luckily for me unlike most local f a m i l i e s m y M o m a n d D a d supported me on my art career interest. Somehow I felt like my calling was more than just drawing, painting and sculpture which is quite awesome but a bit more, more beyond our borders, since I was what some would call a gaming and cartoon junkie, I thought of something, something more like “Animation”, I had finally found myself. So now I channel my chi

(Chinese word for energy) toward character design, digital painting,

and motion graphic and visual effects but still got a lot to learn. I think it's safe

to say my quest for animation is since to start, it's a pity that we don't really have any

proper animation schools here within the Zimbabwean borders but all hope is not lost as

yet for me, I will be an animator.

Pious B Nyenyewa - Graphic ArtistArtists and their works

Fourth and last born of Mr. J and Mrs. E Nyenyewa. Born in April 1991(21yrs of age). 2 sisters, and a brother. Lives in Avondale, Rural home Zvimba. Strong Christian based background and always. Graduated from Msengezi High School in 2007, started Art and design studies at Harare Polytechnic in 2010 at the age of 19. During the course of the studies, was apprenticed to InCreation Design Studio (www.increation.co.zw) represented by Batsirai Madzonga (an invited guest). Currently finishing off the studies in the fourth and final year at Harare Polytechnic College.

Artist statement

Pious B Nyenyewa - Graphic ArtistArtists and their works

Team Nerd Head_Render_Retouchmo_gunz_standard_definition

Pious B Nyenyewa - Graphic ArtistArtists and their works

Team Nerd Head_RenderMythical Lonely Doors

My 'Objective' not dream because dreams can fade, 'Objective', is to be the word on the street, written and read in the books of Zimbabwean artists as one of the most outspoken animators in Zimbabwe, the guy who gave Zimbabweans a reason to go pay at the box office for a seat in the movie house to watch a 2:30 hour good Zimbabwean animated cartoon and not regret it because it was just simply awesome. I believe we have a lot of epic stories to tell and an empty platform that needs to be filled and I believe that that person to fill it me, I am the man for the job, hope it won't be filled until I get there.I am talented, I know it and I don't need to prove it, I'm more than just a graphic designer because it's just feels too shallow for me but I'm an artist a digital artist, who renders art like a fine artist via digital media. I enjoy my Photoshop painting, 3D rendering, character design and to an extent branding…Right now I live by my two design aliases “Nerd Head” and the new and most recent “Steed”

Memory Gurupira - Graphic Artist & PhotographerArtists and their works

Memory Gurupira is a photographer and graphic designer based in Harare. She was guided by her father, aprofessional photographer who worked for years in the mass media industry.Photography with its ability to record, mirror and to comment on the object captured in this case, the notion of work and informal trading in Mbare and other peri-urban locations, the artist uses the photographic image as a tool for exploring current socio-economic traders on the fringe of the informal sector.Given that artists are often able to express well ahead of the rest of our society's hopes, expectations, their objections and struggles, one cannot help but recognise the role of art and culture in development of a country. It makes one understand and recognise culture and art as an integral part of development and empowers artists to promote cultural and environmental renewal and the implementation of national policies towards the achievement of sustainable socio-economic progress, good governance and social justice.

Days Of Our Lives 3

Days Of Our Lives 1

“Growing up my dad being a p rofess i o n a l ph o tograph er instilled in me my passion for photography. In the n ext 10years, I wish to be a well-k n o w n p h o t o g r ap h e r i n competitions such as the World Pres s Ph o t o Co mp e t i t i o n Exhibitions, which has only

been won by International photographers. I would like to be the first black African woman to win the prestigious prize

and even to scoop the McCann Photographer Award”.

Memory Gurupira - Graphic Artist & PhotographerArtists and their works

In her unique style, Memory captures human emotion, and breathtaking stills of life's daily moments in her pictures.

Days Of Our Lives 2

Exhibition In Pictures

Exhibition In Pictures

Tabvezera Exibition

Book by Zvikomborero Mandangu

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