By Emmanuel KaNdlovu
Dexterous graphic designer, Mbakisi Sibanda, is steadily making remarkable strides in the digital art sector following his debut as the only Bulawayo artist part of the POWERPLAY exhibition, a collaborative project by the arebyte Gallery-London, National Gallery of Zimbabwe and the British Council, currently running in London.
In a recent sit-down, Sibanda revealed how he strives to always live up to his name which can be loosely translated to, “the one that helps to build” from the Kalanga language.
“I strongly believe I have to leave a mark wherever I go, it is not necessarily about myself, but purpose. Whatever I am doing has to have a purpose and this is what I am aspiring for,” Sibanda said.
“Among all the other things that I do, I am also working closely with an NGO that is helping feed and take care of the vulnerable during these hard times. Purpose is a very big part of my life,” he continued.
With daily experiences in the advertising and graphic designing worlds, Sibanda is avid about digital art and its properties that are reinforcing the relevance of art today. He firmly believes technology has broken down barriers around art as we know it.
“I have never been really good at drawing, but the computer has helped me a great deal. I now create art and it has become my way of escaping the real word. It’s my way of taking a different route from design and exploring my abilities,” Sibanda said.
The 25-year old had no prior experience with exhibitions with formal and public institutions. His involvement in the POWERPLAY exhibition came as a result of a nudge by Butholezwe Nyathi, the National Gallery in Bulawayo (NGB) Regional Director, who informed him about the project.
“Since I am not really an artist, I thought long and hard about the essence of an exhibition and replied showing interest that was inspired by adventure. I was then linked to Rebecca Edwards, the Curator at the arebyte Gallery who sent me a brief with the rest of the details. I then followed the necessary procedures and started working on my piece and they were satisfied with the results,” he revealed.
His artwork, dubbed Isolation, is a still portrayal of feeling isolated whilst hyper-connected online and the dark nature of how the internet is a huge contributor to mental and physical health ills among other social strains such as disintegration.
The eloquent creative broke down his work revealing he did some introspection on how the internet has affected him as an individual and although he has never been a victim, he quickly thought of the hackings and stalking he has seen being experienced by those around him. These were the points he ran with in coming up with his artwork.
The eloquent creative broke down his work revealing he did some introspection on how the internet has affected him as an individual and although he has never been a victim, he quickly thought of the hackings and stalking he has seen being experienced by those around him. These were the points he ran with in coming up with his artwork.