Artlife Magazine

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, the Culture Fund Trust of Zimbabwe and the arts audience for making our first publication of the ArtLife Art Journal a success. We have received critical yet positive responses from many people who in one way or another managed to set their eyes on the magazine and we are confident that this second issue will justify the publications role which is to bring you deep and interesting news on the visual arts.

The Editorial team decided to focus on the Older Masters of Zimbabwe for its second edition. This was in a bid to address some issues that have been talked about and debated in streets corners, art institutions and many other establishments that relate to the visual arts. We decided to carry out an investigation into the life of some of our more senior artists in order to garner some insights into their "careers". The several interviews and articles in this publication seek to establish facts that pertain to the visual arts sector. There has always been an easy entry into the visual arts sector by "artists" who feel that they have a calling to be artists and the ArtLife team sought to bring answers to these matters that have been tabled for a long time.

By taking a very close look at the work and practices of some "artists" one could question the validity of bestowing the title "artist" upon them. There are many roles that have been ascribed to the artists but the burning questions remain and include; What is the role of the artist in society? Is it to comment on society? To what extent can the "practices and expressions" by some artists be justified? To what magnitude does the financial or economic state of a country or an artist influence their creativity? The ArtLife team sought to unearth and interrogate these issues that have been lying silent in the grave for a long time. Writer, Chenjerai Hove commented in one of his reviews that the artist like a mirror, has to show society its various faces, in times of beauty, in times of ugliness, in times of the worst and the best. He also points out that art must reinvent that capacity to doubt our perspective so that even our politicians should know the various possibilities and alternatives to their lives of power. Artists, he says, should always have something with which to shock society in order to bring them to a realization that life can be lived in a different way, guided by other new reinvented values which give more dignity to human life. When I read those arguments I was stirred and tried to relate the ideas to what has become the norm in the arts sector. On the other hand some argue that the times are changing thus the definition of an artist has changed while on the other hand the life from which he draws his inspiration is changing and this naturally will impact on the work. Such contrasting and contradictory perspectives can cause some confusion.

Whilst there are many factors that influence artistic creativity and production, let us face the fact that many enter the sector as it offers a means to a livelihood. It can be argued that everybody needs to make a living and there are no boundaries as to how one can make a living as long as they are legal. However this view can leave us with a distorted and misplaced understanding of the role of the artist in society.

The ArtLife team therefore sought to present to you what the artists and other art critics had to say concerning this issue, the verdict is therefore left entirely to the reader.

Click Here to download the ArtLife Magazine, Issue 2

	ArtLife Magazine Volume 2 Issue 01 The ArtLife team therefore sought to present to you what the artists and other art critics had to say concerning this issue, the verdict is therefore left entirely to the reader. Click Here to download the ArtLife Magazine, Issue 2
	ArtLife Magazine Volume 2 Issue 02 The ArtLife team therefore sought to present to you what the artists and other art critics had to say concerning this issue, the verdict is therefore left entirely to the reader. Click Here to download the ArtLife Magazine, Issue 2