Florah Maphosa
IT was all smiles at the recently held Swiss-Zim Heritage Vernissage at the Art@84 Gallery in Mt Pleasant, Harare, on September 12 as art lovers and visitors to the exhibition showed their adoration for art and even purchased some of the paintings and converted the market into sales.
The exhibition included portraits and paintings by Tonderai Mujuru, Willard Mujuru, Florah Maphosa and Dominican Convent Girls High students, which showed meticulous silent voices in the form of paint and were picturesque through their own lens of cultural memory, environmental concern and the resilience of the human spirit.
Under the theme Roots and Horizons, the Swiss-Zim Heritage Vernissage transformed the mundane into the extraordinary as brushstrokes became voices, portraits became testimonies and paintings became bridges between tradition and future.
In addition to the high resonance with the theme Roots and Horizons, the curated works showcased a wide array of nuances and connected heritage with urgency, wildlife with humanity and identity with possibility.
Swedish curator and a partner at the Swiss-Zim Heritage Gallery, Dennis Ruf, said he was more than excited to witness the growth and improvement of creative spaces in Zimbabwe and Africa at large.
Ruf said Zimbabwe was a peaceful tourist destination brimming with hospitality, adding that he would have loved to stay beyond the five-day Swiss-Zim Heritage Vernissage, which ran from September 12 to 16.
Keith Zenda, director for the Swiss-Zim Heritage Gallery, said he was inspired to open the Keith Zenda Gallery in Lower Gweru, his home area, and Domboshava by the desire to empower rural communities where there is plentiful untapped beautiful and adorable creative talent.
In addition to the Swiss-Zim Heritage Gallery, Zenda and Ruf have established several online platforms which include Artgal, which markets and sells creative works from Zimbabwe.
Students from the Dominican Convent expressed gratitude for being given an opportunity to showcase their creative works, which are also part of their examination requirements.
The body of work from the Dominican Convent School was identified by Zenda during a visit to the school when he was a guest of honour at their Art Exhibition.
The Dominican Convent girls works of imagination were expressions of adoration of girl child.
At the heart of Roots and Horizons pulsed a spirit of collectivism and an unspoken harmony between artists, students, curators and communities.
The exhibition was more than a showcase; it was a shared heartbeat.
From the identification of young Dominican Convent students by seasoned artists like Zenda, to the cross-continental synergy between Zenda and Swedish curator Ruf, collaboration became the canvas upon which opportunity was painted.
It was a vibrant reminder that creativity thrives not in isolation, but in connection.
Briefly about some of the exhibitors, Tonderai Mujuru, also known for his signature style “Mujurism”, uses his art as a conservationist’s call and is inspired by Zimbabwe’s landscapes and wildlife.
Mujuru, who grew up in Mutoko under the tutelage of an artist father, breathes life into canvas and cloth through images of animals, delicate pets and human portraits with striking realism and emotional depth.
Zenda is a self-taught artist whose rural roots seeded much of his inspiration.
Zenda dwells on painting scenes of daily rural and urban life, portraits of public figures and mixed-media works which recycle found objects to tell stories of human experience and resilience.
Florah Maphosa is the spark of a new generation, her work is colourful, but deeply grounded in identity.
As an emerging voice, she focuses on female resilience, the strength of community, and the stories of Zimbabwean women, using traditional patterns reimagined in bold palettes and emotionally resonant compositions.
Under the mentorship of Zenda via the Swiss-Zim Heritage Gallery, she has begun exhibiting on virtual and international stages, using her art to celebrate and advocate.
Her works in Roots and Horizons carried both heritage and hope, hinting at what lies ahead as she finds her voice in the larger conversation of art and social change.
The exhibition proved that art is not a luxury of the elite, but a lifeline for voices waiting to be heard, from rural brush huts to global galleries.
In the painted silence of each work, there was a loud and hopeful truth that Zimbabwe’s creative horizon is boundless rooted deeply in its past and boldly stretching towards tomorrow.
