We are very delighted to inform and invite you to the gallery activities this May.
Our first activity is the Screening of film titled Nice People on Thursday 11 May staring at 5:30 pm at the gallery’s Court yard bring along a blanket and enjoy tea/ coffee and popcorn under the stars.
The next evening Friday 12 May 2017 at 5pm we will open the exhibition titled Obaba Balamhla / ‘Vana Baba Vanhasi/ Fathers of Today’ Photo exhibition Join us for a private viewing of the exhibition and a small cocktail Friday 12 May starting promptly at 5pm. (Strictly by invitation)
Vanababa va nhasi- Exhibition opened first at the National Gallery in Harare on 23 of November and closed on 30 November 2016. We are happy to be presenting the show here in Bulawayo in collaboration with the Embassy of Sweden in Harare. The exhibition is the culmination of the 2016 held photographic contest which explored the roles of fathers in Zimbabwe and how their relationships with their partner and child(ren) have changed in the face of a changing and progressively more gender equal world.
Vana Baba Vanhasi/Obaba Balamhla/Fathers of Today documents and showcases the roles of progressive fathers in Zimbabwe today and how they relate to and interact with their children. Slowly but surely, even for couples who are fiercely opposed to traditional gender roles in their relationship, find themselves in gender specific roles during the first few years of parenthood that can remain in place into adolescence. For many couples, this traditional division of labor – childcare and housework for women, income generation and home repair for men – feels comfortable and each partner is satisfied. However, in the progressive world in which we live, this division is rife with conflict for both partners. The photographs in this exhibition show how challenging it can be for a father to be engaged in a satisfying way in our present culture. It is clear from research that children tend to play with their fathers more than they would another child. When given a choice of who to play with, two-thirds of toddlers choose dads over moms. This can give parents a concrete reason to value and promote dad’s involvement and enable partners to navigate the challenges of gender roles and parenthood gracefully.
The exhibition in Bulawyo is made possible through the partnership with Voices in Colour and supported by the Swedish Embassy in Zimbabwe.
Tomy Ndebele was born in 1960 Tsholotsho and did his art training at Mzilikazi Art and Craft Centre between 1981 and 1984. Tomy was one of the founding members of the Roots Cooperative.
He exhibited extensively in and out of Zimbabwe including The Zimbabwe Heritage exhibitions from 1983 while he was still studying at Mzilikazi and the Visual Artists’ Association of Bulawayo V.A.A.B annual exhibitions since 1984, including the VAAB exhibition held Gaborone Museum in Botswana in 1992. On his return from Botswana his networking paid off as he was invited to the Wimbledon School of Art in the UK in 1993. One of Ndebele’s highlights was participating in various workshops including the Thapong Artists workshop in Gaborone Botswana.His first solo exhibition was at the gallery titled RETURN in 2000 a period he began to experiment with various techniques it was the show that was elaborate and showed depth in his work through a series of figurative work depicting the African scenes. The second solo exhibition titled “SPONONO SAMI” opened at the Gallery in 2004 this time the collage series where bolder, colourful and intricate.
Tomy was commissioned by various organisations and publishers to do illustrations and graphics including the Mathewman Bank in 1995, another book hear My Song supported by the Danish and Zimbabwe Governments. His illustrations, talent and attention to detail got him further to work on more educational illustrations for the Matabeleland AIDS Council publications and various publications by the Ministry of Education.
For the second time in partnership with the Environment Management Agency the national gallery presents Sisonke/ Tavatose 2017 exhibition titled “Celebration time – with environment in Mind”. The exhibition will open in Bulawayo on Saturday 20 May 2017 at 2:00pm at the National Gallery in Bulawayo. The outstanding winners from the regional galleries in Bulawayo Harare and Mutare will show in the Grand finale exhibition in Harare opening on 3 June 2017. Yekelani Abantwana beze e gallery. For more information please contact the Education Officer on 09 70721 or email: sabona@mweb.co.zw.
————————————————————————————————————- Finally this May we invite you to a solo exhibition by Bulawayo painter Japhet Funwayo. The exhibition titled “A visual Anthology” will open on Friday 26 May 2017 starting promptly at 5:30Pm. Funwayo will present a contemporary work in the form of paintings including some of his popular clay paintings. Funwayo is currently working at the Bulawayo Polytechnic college Art School as a senior lecturer and we will be looking forward to welcoming you to the show.