ARTISTS UNDER 30 YEARS

So much has happened in Zimbabwe in the last 30 years that the young artists who have lived through this era would need to look back to rethink, refocus and search deeper down into themselves. This will encourage the young contemporary artist to research into a line of thought where they move away from the usual, the traditional, the well known and the ordinary into an area of the unexpected, the unexplored, the new, the non-traditional and the world of surprises and deep imagination through use of art on paper as a creative material for making art. A determined look into the past 30 years will surely provide fodder for the artist to sift through and draw out very intriguing artistic ideas.

Refocus at 30 aims at bringing artists below the age of 30 into the limelight. They are a new generation in their own artistic right. Artists such Mavis Tauzeni, Tatenda Mukucha, Grasham Nyande, Victor Nyakauru whose works are present in this exhibition have embraced the arts with passion and zeal, they have created a name for themselves in the contemporary environment. This exhibition serves to demonstrate the yardstick of what young artists have done for themselves, different from the first, second and third generations. Social, political economic and even environmental issues are tackled in their works.

After everything has been said and done, one would take a moment to think of possibly new stories that they have not heard of in the last ten years.  This is were the artist comes in with his skills, capturing and narrating certain events in a way not seen by most people. These are stories we can only learn about through the artist’s knowledge and creativity. The show also presents an opportunity for the viewer to observe and match the uniqueness of style used by the artists. Despite representing Zimbabwe in the past 30 years these young artists have come together as one voice to present a challenging past that the country has gone through.

In this exhibition the artists had a wide area to draw their inspiration from as there was no specified theme. The two dimensional works refocus not only on the history of visual art but also its future in Zimbabwe from a group of artists that will leave a legacy of its own for future reference. Yandani Mlilo’s mixed media piece titled Misodzi yeropa is a reflection of a time of hardship and excruciating pain. The art on paper shows an eye flowing tears of blood which symbolizes a period of desperation and a time of great need. Marques Mateus’ work entitled Hope illustrates the Great Zimbabwe site which is the nation’s pillar of hope. The story behind the building of the Great Zimbabwe is a tale that has given the country its sense of pride and sovereignty. Pan African, Tribute to Sam, Drought, Baba vakashaika and Time Passage are some titles of works on exhibition bearing reference to Zimbabwe’s history.