Pip Curling - The historical and current role of ... - AICA international
Pip Curling - The historical and current role of ... - AICA international
Pip Curling - The historical and current role of ... - AICA international
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STRUCTURING AFRICA(S) : CULTURAL POLICIES AND THEIR DIFFERENCIES AND SIMILARITIES,<br />
OR HOW TO DEAL WITH NEEDS AND DESIRES<br />
CAPE TOWN - NOVEMBER 2007<br />
THE HISTORICAL AND CURRENT ROLE OF THE NATIONAL<br />
GALLERY AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS IN ZIMBABWE: AN<br />
ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTS OF VALIDATION AND MARKETING<br />
OF CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART.<br />
<strong>Pip</strong> <strong>Curling</strong><br />
Zimbabwe has been a country <strong>of</strong> political turmoil, repression <strong>and</strong> upheaval – with isl<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong><br />
relative peace <strong>and</strong> prosperity – for most <strong>of</strong> its recent history. Political change has possibly been<br />
the single greatest factor to influence <strong>and</strong> impact on the art <strong>of</strong> the country in both positive <strong>and</strong><br />
negative ways.<br />
<strong>The</strong> key institution, central to the evolution <strong>and</strong> growth <strong>of</strong> the various art forms <strong>and</strong><br />
movements has been, <strong>and</strong> still is, the National Gallery <strong>of</strong> Zimbabwe. Other institutions have<br />
played lesser <strong>role</strong>s in the fields <strong>of</strong> art education, social empowerment through art, <strong>and</strong> the<br />
economics <strong>of</strong> the art business. Prior to the building <strong>of</strong> the National Gallery the individuals <strong>and</strong><br />
institutions teaching <strong>and</strong> encouraging art among the black people <strong>of</strong> the country were Canon<br />
Paterson at Cyrene Anglican Mission outside Bulawayo <strong>and</strong> Father Gruber at the Catholic<br />
Serima Mission in the Midl<strong>and</strong>s. It must be noted here that before Zimbabwean independence in<br />
1980 there was a deliberate government policy to not <strong>of</strong>fer art teaching in government schools<br />
falling under the then Ministry <strong>of</strong> African Education.<br />
<strong>The</strong> fact that Zimbabwe has a custom built National Gallery is in itself an accident <strong>of</strong> political<br />
history. <strong>The</strong> idea <strong>of</strong> a National Gallery was mooted by Sir James Macdonald (a friend <strong>of</strong> Cecil<br />
Rhodes) in 1943 when he bequeathed thirty thous<strong>and</strong> pounds for its building. It wasn’t until after<br />
the creation <strong>of</strong> the Federation <strong>of</strong> Rhodesia <strong>and</strong> Nyasal<strong>and</strong> in 1953 that this idea was to become<br />
reality. <strong>The</strong> Federation, which drew its wealth from the tobacco <strong>and</strong> gold <strong>of</strong> Southern Rhodesia<br />
<strong>and</strong> the copper <strong>of</strong> Northern Rhodesia, was able to indulge in an orgy <strong>of</strong> developmental building.<br />
Institutions such as the University College <strong>of</strong> Rhodesia <strong>and</strong> Nyasal<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> the National Gallery<br />
were located in Salisbury (now Harare), the capital <strong>of</strong> the Federation. Thus Zimbabwe benefited<br />
materially at the expense <strong>of</strong> Zambia <strong>and</strong> Malawi.<br />
Frank McEwen, the first appointed director <strong>of</strong> the National Gallery arrived in April 1956 <strong>and</strong><br />
the gallery was <strong>of</strong>ficially opened in July 1957. McEwen came to the National Gallery with an<br />
impressive string <strong>of</strong> influential contacts in the European, American <strong>and</strong> West African art worlds.<br />
He personally knew Picasso <strong>and</strong> Brancusi. McEwen was later to say that he came to the country<br />
fully aware that,<br />
In Rhodesia there existed no traditional art or valuable foreign collections to be relied upon to<br />
fill the gallery; … <strong>and</strong> that the only road open to the gallery would be to become an art institute<br />
<strong>and</strong> to promote art locally in a country where there was as yet no major sign whatsoever <strong>of</strong> artistic<br />
creations approaching <strong>international</strong> levels.<br />
Here, perhaps, was an unfortunate oversight. McEwen did not acknowledge the rich cultural<br />
<strong>and</strong> aesthetic heritage <strong>of</strong> the country’s functional artefacts; <strong>and</strong> it was not until 1963 that the<br />
National Gallery bought for its collection the first headrest. Even then it was purchased in<br />
Europe, not locally. <strong>The</strong> legacy <strong>of</strong> this oversight lingers on even today in the non-recognition <strong>of</strong><br />
cultural artefacts as de facto artworks. Ask anyone who has a vague or working knowledge <strong>of</strong> the<br />
art <strong>of</strong> the country <strong>and</strong> most will say, “art in Zimbabwe began with the opening <strong>of</strong> the National<br />
Gallery in 1957”.<br />
Immediately after the opening <strong>of</strong> the gallery, McEwen launched into his single-minded<br />
campaign to generate a local, but <strong>international</strong>ly recognised, ‘School’ <strong>of</strong> artists. He conducted his<br />
campaign on two fronts. At home he gave unstinting material, financial <strong>and</strong> aesthetic<br />
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STRUCTURING AFRICA(S) : CULTURAL POLICIES AND THEIR DIFFERENCIES AND SIMILARITIES,<br />
OR HOW TO DEAL WITH NEEDS AND DESIRES<br />
CAPE TOWN - NOVEMBER 2007<br />
encouragement to a group <strong>of</strong> young men who painted <strong>and</strong> carved within the ambit <strong>of</strong> the National<br />
Gallery. In the early days he personally bought the young artist’s works recognising that, given<br />
the relative poverty <strong>of</strong> the majority <strong>of</strong> the country’s population, a financial incentive was critical<br />
to keep the artists working. Abroad he praised <strong>and</strong> promoted their work through letters to gallery<br />
directors <strong>and</strong> influential businessmen, lecture tours, travelling exhibitions <strong>and</strong> aggressive<br />
salesmanship.<br />
McEwen had certain preconceptions as to what might constitute contemporary African Art.<br />
He said <strong>of</strong> the new art:<br />
<strong>The</strong>se carvings possess form <strong>and</strong> style recognisable as African. <strong>The</strong>y do not adhere to any local<br />
tradition. … What cannot be missed, however, is the fact that these carvers embrace certain<br />
stylistic tendencies <strong>and</strong> even observe symbols common to Western Africa …<br />
<strong>The</strong> results <strong>of</strong> McEwen’s two-fold campaign were also two-fold. Art as a saleable commodity<br />
tended to supersede the idea <strong>of</strong> art as meaningful social comment. This said it does not negate<br />
the fact that, at the time, the mere act <strong>of</strong> making images <strong>of</strong> indigenous African people, their<br />
physiognomy <strong>and</strong> their cultural beliefs, was in itself an outright <strong>and</strong> forceful social comment<br />
found abhorrent by some members <strong>of</strong> the white government <strong>and</strong> population. In a parliamentary<br />
debate on the National Gallery one politician complained about,<br />
... those monstrosities conceived by diseased brains that have become the main feature <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Gallery. On occasion when I have visited the Gallery, as I opened the front door there I looked at<br />
the face <strong>of</strong> an African carved in soapstone ... I deplore the fact that there is a workshop indulging<br />
in the creation <strong>of</strong> this type <strong>of</strong> monstrosity <strong>and</strong> that, in fact, it has also turned itself into a trading<br />
store.<br />
<strong>The</strong> use <strong>of</strong> the term ‘trading store’ was racially inflammatory as urban white Rhodesians<br />
patronised shops while most black citizens used rural trading stores.<br />
As a result <strong>of</strong> McEwen’s promotion <strong>of</strong> the new contemporary art in Europe <strong>and</strong> America, the<br />
appreciative audience for this art became, not the local community, (neither black nor white) but<br />
that <strong>of</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong>, France, <strong>The</strong> United States <strong>of</strong> America <strong>and</strong> even South Africa; countries where<br />
the art was mostly exhibited <strong>and</strong> sold.<br />
As an incentive to artists McEwen established a selected annual exhibition. It was here that<br />
artists <strong>of</strong> all races throughout the country could submit their work for exhibition. <strong>The</strong> “Annual<br />
Exhibition” (later to become the “Zimbabwe Heritage Exhibition”) continued until 2002 after<br />
which it was disb<strong>and</strong>ed through lack <strong>of</strong> funding <strong>and</strong> a re-evaluation <strong>of</strong> its validity.<br />
When the Federation <strong>of</strong> Rhodesia <strong>and</strong> Nyasal<strong>and</strong> broke up at the end <strong>of</strong> 1963, Zambia <strong>and</strong><br />
Malawi achieved their independence from Britain. <strong>The</strong> white government <strong>of</strong> Southern Rhodesia<br />
declared unilateral independence from Britain in November 1965 <strong>and</strong> the country was<br />
immediately subjected to <strong>international</strong> economic, sporting <strong>and</strong> cultural sanctions. Despite<br />
McEwen’s best efforts to defend his ideas for the Gallery <strong>and</strong> its promotion <strong>of</strong> the fledgling<br />
contemporary African art movement, politics defeated him <strong>and</strong> he left the country in 1973.<br />
For the next seven years Rhodesia was in cultural limbo. Commercial dealers continued to<br />
support the African artists as best they could <strong>and</strong> so did the National Gallery, but in a much<br />
lower key than previously.<br />
With legitimate political independence in 1980 the lid blew <strong>of</strong>f the isolation <strong>of</strong> Zimbabwean<br />
art. Almost overnight stone sculpture became a commodity in high dem<strong>and</strong> on the <strong>international</strong><br />
market. <strong>The</strong> National Gallery seized the moment <strong>and</strong> again was a major player in the sale <strong>and</strong><br />
commercial promotion <strong>of</strong> that art form. Through sales the Gallery was able to raise significant<br />
funds to restore Douslin House, the new home <strong>of</strong> the National Gallery in Bulawayo. This building<br />
had been purchased in 1978.<br />
Because Bulawayo did not have the full impact <strong>of</strong> McEwen’s forceful ideas <strong>of</strong> contemporary<br />
African art, the artists in Matabel<strong>and</strong> were fewer than in Mashonal<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> they developed in<br />
more individualistic ways. Many Bulawayo artists benefited from the Mzilikazi arts <strong>and</strong> crafts<br />
training project under the auspices <strong>of</strong> the Bulawayo Municipality.<br />
<strong>The</strong> National Gallery made another major contribution to Zimbabwean art in the early 1980s<br />
with the opening <strong>of</strong> the BAT Workshop in Harare. This facility was intended to benefit young<br />
Zimbabweans who had been denied art education in schools <strong>and</strong> whose academic performance<br />
might not be good enough for them to be able to attend a tertiary educational institution. <strong>The</strong><br />
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STRUCTURING AFRICA(S) : CULTURAL POLICIES AND THEIR DIFFERENCIES AND SIMILARITIES,<br />
OR HOW TO DEAL WITH NEEDS AND DESIRES<br />
CAPE TOWN - NOVEMBER 2007<br />
BAT Workshop was initially funded partly by British American Tobacco <strong>and</strong> partly by the<br />
National Gallery. It had one full-time instructor but visiting teachers also made significant<br />
contributions. <strong>The</strong> Workshop continues today wholly funded by NORAD. (Norwegian Government<br />
Aid)<br />
Students training at the BAT Workshop had a full-time curriculum <strong>of</strong> drawing, painting,<br />
printmaking <strong>and</strong> sculpture with a heavy emphasis on figure drawing. Influenced by the resident<br />
teacher, the resultant work from the young artists was figurative <strong>and</strong> expressive with an almost<br />
universal painterly style. <strong>The</strong> best <strong>of</strong> the artists graduating after two years at the BAT Workshop<br />
were readily gathered into the stable <strong>of</strong> artists at Gallery Delta, the major commercial gallery in<br />
Harare. During the 80s <strong>and</strong> 90s sales at the National Gallery, Gallery Delta <strong>and</strong> the many stone<br />
sculpture formal <strong>and</strong> informal galleries were good. A proliferation <strong>of</strong> stone carving mushroomed<br />
on the streets <strong>of</strong> Harare <strong>and</strong> on the roadside <strong>of</strong> major highways in the country.<br />
For half a century in Zimbabwe there was a distinct bias towards the artwork as art object.<br />
Buyers <strong>and</strong> patrons were mostly from the richer Western nations <strong>and</strong> subject matter tended to<br />
p<strong>and</strong>er to consumer dem<strong>and</strong>s. Much <strong>of</strong> the art reinforced the unfortunate <strong>and</strong> unjustified<br />
perception <strong>of</strong> Africa as primitive, poor, earthy, naïve. Subjects favoured for painting included<br />
women in the fields, women carrying babies <strong>and</strong> firewood, market sellers, men on street corners.<br />
Sculptors focused on images <strong>of</strong> idealised womanhood, animals, birds <strong>and</strong> the metamorphosis <strong>of</strong><br />
man into animal.<br />
Major developments in concept, performance art, environmental <strong>and</strong> installation art, that<br />
might have challenged stereotypical perceptions <strong>of</strong> art, largely passed by Zimbabwe. A few<br />
individual artists attempted more challenging concepts <strong>and</strong> newer genre; but the idea <strong>of</strong> art as<br />
tradable commodity held sway in the main. It was not in the National Gallery’s interest to<br />
vigorously pursue unsaleable art forms because the sale <strong>of</strong> art benefited the gallery by<br />
subsidising its inadequate government grant. For obvious financial reasons commercial galleries<br />
<strong>and</strong> most <strong>of</strong> the artists themselves favoured income over idea.<br />
Conceptual art genres dem<strong>and</strong> re-cognition through supporting infrastructure <strong>and</strong> the written<br />
word. Ekphrastic writing, critical analysis <strong>and</strong> the more permanent media <strong>of</strong> publication serve to<br />
concretise impermanent art forms. <strong>The</strong> paucity <strong>of</strong> empathetic <strong>and</strong> meaningful writing about art<br />
within Zimbabwe has possibly contributed to the lack <strong>of</strong> stimulus for experimental art forms.<br />
For a brief time “Gallery” magazine, published by Gallery Delta from 1994 to 2002, was<br />
significantly influential in focusing local <strong>and</strong> <strong>international</strong> attention on contemporary<br />
Zimbabwean art. It provided a platform for discussion, fuelled debate on the nature <strong>of</strong> art, <strong>and</strong><br />
highlighted the few artists who were testing boundaries <strong>and</strong> challenging paradigms constricting<br />
the art <strong>of</strong> the country.<br />
Zimbabwe has not had the corporate business climate prepared to financially support the<br />
visual arts in a substantially meaningful way. My personal thesis is that the original colonisers<br />
were men intent on amassing their fortunes from the country’s resources, more interested in gold<br />
<strong>and</strong> l<strong>and</strong> than aesthetics <strong>and</strong> object d’art. <strong>The</strong>ir ethos, perpetuated through the generations,<br />
appears to live on today.<br />
<strong>The</strong> world is aware <strong>of</strong> the recent economic collapse within Zimbabwe. Like other industries,<br />
the art industry as it was is moribund <strong>and</strong> all but defunct. <strong>The</strong> art object is no longer a viable,<br />
marketable commodity within the country. <strong>The</strong>refore, with nothing to lose financially, the<br />
National Gallery <strong>and</strong> the artists are theoretically liberated from market dem<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> have the<br />
freedom to dispute, disrupt or disembowel any previously held concepts <strong>and</strong> constraints <strong>of</strong> art<br />
making. Given Zimbabwe’s exposure in the <strong>international</strong> news, this is an opportunity for artists<br />
to move into protest art, as have playwrights <strong>and</strong> actors.<br />
<strong>The</strong> entropic present promises a future explosion <strong>of</strong> new energy. But these thoughts should be<br />
left to Heeten Bhagat, the <strong>current</strong> curator at the National Gallery, to exp<strong>and</strong> on later in the<br />
proceedings <strong>of</strong> this conference.<br />
© <strong>AICA</strong> Press et l’auteur<br />
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