A new vision for Zimbabwean art

He has been based outside Zimbabwe for a number of years now, but came back and has recently taken up the post of Curator for the National Gallery of Zimbabwe.

Here, he talks about his new appointment and his plans to elevate the state of art in the country.

You have just been appointed curator of the National Art Galleries. What are your plans for the gallery? Where do you see potential?

Well, I have many plans. One works on a curatorial program for one or two years. I plan to increase the visibility of the Gallery as a critical space for the global art world. To achieve this, I plan to include a number of international exhibitions and establish links with a number of international organisations and websites such as The Zimbo Jam. Part of our local exhibitions will also include international shows. I basically want to bring together local and international partners including those in the media sector.

Before your appointment, the National Galleries had not had a curator for about two years. Why do you think it was so hard for the Gallery to find a curator?

The National Gallery would have to answer you on that one. But I can say that there arent that many curators in Africa in general. There are no curatorial studies offered in Africa and there are very few offered in the West. Most curators in Africa are self-taught.

As you have said, there are very few African curators. In Zimbabwe especially, there are few people who have studied the arts to that level. Please tell us about your studies.

I started by studying at the Harare Arts Centre in Mbare. Thereafter, I earned a postgraduate certificate from the University of the Witwatersrand in the late 1980s. In 2005, I was awarded a curatorial grant to travel and learn more about curatorship. In 2006, I got a place at Kingston University in London to do a Masters degree. I was then awarded a Chevening Scholarship by the British Council and it is this scholarship that enabled me to attend Kingston University where I did an MA in Curating Contemporary Design. This was a great opportunity for me as I also got to learn with students from all over the world.

In 2008, I received another scholarship from Kingston University, this time for my PhD which I am currently working towards. My new post as curator could not have come at a better time as my experiences will feed into my research for my PhD on the Politics of Curating African Art. I still feel that the representation on African art in the West is questionable.

You have spent a lot of time overseas. What have you learnt there that you think will be of use here?

I used to work as an independent curator and I also received further training from Kingston University. I would therefore like to apply what I have learnt practically into the implementation of my goals for the Gallery. I also have a good international network which will feed into the international programs that I have planned, thus ensuring that Zimbabwe gains more visibility.

Most people do not know what exactly a curator does. Please explain the role of a curator in a gallery or museum.

In the past, a curator was merely a custodian of a collection in a museum. A curator is to art what a producer is to music or a director is to theatre. The modern day curators role is to conceptualise and realise an exhibition. You are meant to care for all aspects of an exhibition and its realisation.

There are quite a number of exhibitions that go on at the gallery. Are you pleased with peoples attendance? If not, what do you think can be done to improve the situation?

From the little experience that I have as curator of the Gallery, I can say that there are some challenges in getting bigger audiences for exhibitions. Knowledge of the arts is very limited. We need to re-brand and reach out to previously disadvantaged people who think museums and galleries are solely for white people.

Our education department in working to bring children from the townships and disadvantaged communities to come to the gallery and to bring their parents along with them, thus exposing them to art.

The Gallery is part of public interest. It is a platform for the Zimbabwe Contemporary artist and it is this artist that acts as a mirror reflecting the community.

Finally, on a lighter note, you cut your dreadlocks. What motivated you to get rid of them after so long?

Ah! Imhanza! I was getting uncomfortable with my hairline so I decided to cut my locks off and keep a bald head. Besides, I am growing up; I am no longer a radical as I was in my youth. Not to say that there is anything wrong with dreadlocks. We are all different and things change. I think I simply outgrew mine. – Interview by Tariro Muzenda for The Zimbo Jam