Njelele Gallery was opened in May in a commercial space that was once a car mechanic’s yard. The space has been transformed into what one local man dubbed, “good for the ghetto”.
Amongst Its contrasting, but equally appreciative patrons are township youth appreciating art for the very first time.
Njelele, aptly named after a Zimbabwean sacred shrine, is positioning itself as a cultural platform for contemporary visual art forms such as photography, film, sound, installation and animation. According to Artistic Director, Dana Whabira, the gallery is “an urban laboratory for creative experimentation, erudition and encounters with everyday life”. Africa’s new curatorial confidence of indigenous modern art themes brings greater focus to “non-western art”, giving local artists a Fubu attitude in their creativity.
Njelele is the latest Zimbabwean cultural voice for an African contemporary art generation. With its first ever exhibition “Vahombe: Vanobuda Mumvura Vachikwira Kumakore” (The elders who come out of the water and climb the clouds) showcasing the work of award winning photographer, Calvin Dondo. The Exhibition will run until the 22nd of June 2013.
“The exhibition is a tribute to the fallen heroes such as Nehanda, Kaguvi, Mukwati and others,” said Dondo. “It’s a combination of historical images with skyscapes, which I photographed. I have merged them to bring the liberation heroes to life in contemporary times.”
Dondo uses digital image processing to fuse two composite visuals to create a masterful single image. Colonial Photographers shot the original images, unaware of their future relevance as iconic pieces of art. What would they make of Dondo’s Vahombe? When I posed this question to one of Njelele’s patrons, he said: “He would either be shot or hanged”.
It’s impressive how Dondo hijacks images and manages to project them into today’s cultural trajectory. Vahombe remakes the image of the African’s subjection into a powerful statement, thereby giving the fallen heroes eternal relevance.
Paradoxically, one audience member first viewed Vahombe as a memorial to the liberation martyrs, who died resisting colonization and then later after a few glasses of wine, saw the photographs as creative electoral exploitation.
However, according to Calvin Dondo, the historic figures are an echo from the past and a reminder of Zimbabwe’s forgotten heroes and lost traditions. – A.A.V. Amasi
Post published in: Arts