By
Andrew Mulenga
With the on-going UNWTO general assembly, it appears all roads lead to Livingstone, fortunately, the main highway from the capital and other parts of the country passes through Choma where any dedicated Zambian art collector or devotee should be making a stopover.
“What
is exciting about this museum, it is different from other museums I have
visited in Zambia in that they are speaking to the international discourse which
now says we should move away from thinking that museums or heritage sites will
be protected by the learned but that we should involve communities in the
protection of our national heritage”, she said.
“I got
to know the works of Henry Tayali and others but today I will be happy to look
at work by people we call unsung heroes, our visit today is not really looking
at the art but actually celebrating the unsung heroes through the art they have
created”.
With the on-going UNWTO general assembly, it appears all roads lead to Livingstone, fortunately, the main highway from the capital and other parts of the country passes through Choma where any dedicated Zambian art collector or devotee should be making a stopover.
The
Choma Museum and Craft Centre (CMCC) is currently showing works by some of the
country’s most important printmakers in an exhibition entitled Graphic Art of Zambia that celebrates an
almost forgotten art form in Zambia. The show is also a historic anthology of
the genre and its artists from the 1960s until today.
(L-R) Choma Museum Director Mwimanji Chellah, Minister of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs Prof. Nkandu Luo, deputy ministers Susan Kawandami and Robert Taundi look at prints by Cynthia Zukas |
It
features Cynthia Zukas MBE, the Lusaka Artists Group – as of 1977 Zambia
Association of Artists – collective of Bert Witkamp, Fackson Kulya, Patrick
Mweemba, and David Chibwe alongside Lutanda Mwamba, William Miko, Agnes Buya
Yombwe, Jonathan Leya, Patrick Mumba and Adam Mwansa.
Also
featured in the show are the two indigenous forerunners of post-independence contemporary
Zambian art, the scholarly Henry Tayali and the fabled free spirit Aquila
Simpasa.
Opening
the exhibition as guest of honour on Wednesday morning, Minister of Chiefs and
Traditional Affairs Professor Nkandu Luo, who was accompanied by her two deputies
Susan Kawandami and Robert Taundi, described the exhibiting artists as unsung
heroes for their contribution to the public good.
And in
his opening remarks after conducting a tour for the officials CMCC Executive Director Mwimanji Chellah
said the Choma museum board and management conceived the exhibition as a side
event for the UNWTO.
Meanwhile,
National Museum Board Executive Secretary, Flexon Mizinga explained that the
exhibition intended to “Bring out the Zambian character, the uniqueness of ‘us’
and these artworks portray that in a very special way, we are Zambians because
of what we do, we eat, how we treat each other and so these artworks portray
that but in a very special way,” he added “It is our hope that some of our
guests will find their way here. As of yesterday we were yet to confirm that
some of them have signed up so that the UNWTO can spill over into here, buses
can be provided”.
Chellah
later introduced the museums co-founder and art exhibition co-ordinator Bert
Witkamp an artist of Dutch origin who has lived in the country for over 30
years.
This early linocut by David Chibwe shows meticulous detail that is hard to achieve in this medium |
“In
this room, there are a lot of people who can talk about art in Zambia starting
with that man (Chellah) that I have known for 40 years since the first time I
came to Zambia. There is also Simon Chungu (artist), Patrick Mweemba (artist)
and there is this gentleman who helps put arts in Zambia on the map nationally
and internationally Andrew Mulenga (the author) we are very happy to have him
here,” said the self-effacing Witkamp as he almost shied away from taking the
floor.
He
explained that although the exhibition was about printmaking, it was also about
drawing in pencil, in charcoal and in pen.
“Let
me say something about printmaking. Before we hardly had any – contemporary art
– print makers, the first one was Cynthia Zukas who was the pioneer and has
made a great contribution in the arts in Zambia; the second one is Henry Tayali
one of Zambia’s greats who died in 1987 the third one involves I. When I came
here in 1975, I looked for – grassroots – artists to work with. The Tayalis and
a few others were on one side of the social ladder because they were educated and
had important positions in social life”.
He
disclosed that he worked with artists from the shanty towns, Mtendere to be specific
with little or no education and in those days the Zambian art scene was very
small.
“You
are talking about a handful of artists so it didn’t take much just by
organisation to place yourself on the scene so what we did with the help of the
Art Centre Foundation was to organise a workshop where we worked for five years
called the Lusaka Artists Group, some of them from the group like Patrick Mweemba
and Fackson Kulya are in the exhibition as you can see,”
Women's Talk, (1979), woodcut, by Henry Tayali is among many works currently on sale in the exhibition |
“From
the 70s and early 80s, we had new artists dominant on the scene like Miko,
Lutanda and Patrick Mumba so here we are showing you the pioneers and people
who came after them. The result of this effort until today is a vibrant
interesting tradition of Zambian graphic art that indeed captures the life of
the people. It is not like in the western world where you will look at art and
ask, ‘is this is art? What is it?’, but this is art that shows you the life of
the people.”
And
before she officially opened the exhibition, Professor Luo, who was honestly
fascinated by the way CMCC has been working with the rural women of the
community in far flung places such as Kanchomba in Pemba East after its board
Vice Chairperson Ellie Choonde revealed that traditional Tonga baskets sold
through the museum are a source of income for the rural women and have found
their way into the interior décor of many hotels countrywide.
(L-R) Choma Museum founding partner and artist Bert Witkamp, director Mwimanji Chellah and Minister of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs Prof. Nkandu Luo |
And in
her closing remarks, on a lighter note, the minister said she knew the works of
Henry Tayali because incidentally her older sister was married to an artist and
an actor in the name of Edwin Manda and because of him, her family got to know many
creative people, visual artists inclusive.
Professor Luo shares a light moment with a European couple that was visiting the museum |
Still,
as far as art appreciation goes, we still have a journey to go. As much as the
minister was familiar with Tayali’s work, it was evident a few members of her
entourage were not. Some could be heard softly murmuring in disbelief at the
average K2, 000 (two thousand kwacha) price tags, thinking these were too high.
In
actual fact, a good Tayali print can fetch way over US$2,000 (two thousand
dollars), so to have a total of seven of these works on sale in Choma right now
– the oldest being a 1979 print entitled Woman’s
Talk – is a surprise in itself. These treasures are at risk of being
whisked away by foreign museums never to be seen by less privileged Zambians
again.
Work
by African artists is currently a hot commodity; there is a recharged worldwide
recognition of the vibrancy of contemporary art made on the continent. Or in
the words of Financial Times “African
contemporary art is hot,” as it announced, after the London auction house
Bonhams achieved a record US$850,000 for a work by Ghana’s El Anatsui, an
artist who still lives and works on the continent last year. Bonhams, which has
been consistently holding exhibitions dedicated to contemporary African art for
the past five years actually has an African Art department, and its director Giles
Peppiatt is reported to have told Naveena Kottoor of the BBC World Service that
compared to contemporary art from other parts of the world, the prices for
African art are still quite modest, and investors are seeing it increasingly as
a good investment.
The Choma museum craft shop stocks handicrafts that are created by members of the surrounding rural community |
“Public
museums don't have lots of money, so their curators have to look over the hill
and see what might be the next big thing," Peppiatt told the BBC.
The craft shop also stocks several Zambian titles that are mainly written in Tonga, the language of the Zambia's Southern Province |
There
have also been reports that, even in times of global economic uncertainty, institutions
such as the Tate Modern – one of the leading contemporary art museums in the world
– is stocking up on its African collection. So it would be no surprise if the
Tayali prints are quickly whipped up.
Nevertheless, returning
home, for anyone who has been studying the Zambian art scene with regards
political will, it can be interpreted as both a welcome and encouraging act
when a high level entourage of government officials, in fact the entire top
brass avails itself for the opening of an art exhibition. Particularly when it
is from a ministry that does not oversee the arts. The chief’s ministry
oversees museums under deputy minister Kawandami who oversees development in
the ministry. Anyway, maybe, just maybe the arts are slowly, but finally getting
recognition. The Graphic Art of Zambia exhibition
runs until October.
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