Rutendo Mutadzapasi At The Gallery
International Museums Day and Culture Week are two intertwined occasions that are celebrated annually in May because of their relation to heritage. As a museum of contemporary art, the National Gallery of Zimbabwe takes part in these celebrations

as it aims to secure the memories and the stories we tell as contemporary.
On Friday the Gallery joined museums and galleries worldwide in celebrating, recognising and uplifting the role of museums and cultures during the International Museum Day.

This year’s theme, “Museums In the Changing World”, allows us to explore the numerous objects that are basic to the memory of the communities we live in and position ideas on the future of museums.
As the custodian of the visual heritage in the country, the National Gallery of Zimbabwe enjoys the space and facilities to present works of art to their best advantage in a gallery environment while collecting and preserving its visual artifacts.

Participating schools like Westridge Primary School, St George’s, Chipadze, Kambuzuma High 1 are expected to engage in workshops, tours, dance and quiz games.
During Culture Week, our mandate as a gallery is to uphold visual artistic evidence of the different local, regional and international cultures.
We celebrate the dynamic cultures which were once contemporary during their time and those that we now call contemporary, while showing their diversity.

Culture Week is also a time we can celebrate our history culturally through the objects that narrate stories of our ancestors, as is the role played by folklores.
In commemoration of the Culture Week, the Gallery is mounting an exhibition titled “Objects of Mediation”.
The exhibition explores the influence, significance and role of African material objects. The body of works in this exhibition includes drums, mbira, rattles, beadwork, love letters, ritual masks, figures, clay pots, axes and costumes from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi, among others.

The objects on display serve the public with knowledge of African heritage and encourage us to be proud of our identity. The exhibition is runs from May 1 to August 31.
“The Gallery is delighted to host these important shows as they call upon the community to reflect upon the different cultures of the world.

“While we look backward through traditional artifacts we also see today in the various new mediums of art that have emerged,” said Doreen Sibanda, the executive director of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe.