Dr Tony Monda
Art Zone

Currently running at Joina City is an art exhibition entitled “The Spirit of Friendship; Entre Dos Aquas/Pakati Pemagungwa”.

The artists featured in this exhibition include Charles Bhebe, Steven Garan’anga, Tafadzwa Gwitai, Freddy Tauro, Wallen Mapondera, Anthony Bumhira, Tracy Ann Strydom, John Kotze, Belinda Marshall, Misheck Masamvu and Owen Maseko.
The exhibition is expected to travel to Bulawayo before making its way to Spain and onto the Gabarron Foundation in the United States.

However, I found the “Spirit of Friendship” Spain lacking in this unprofessionally curated, hastily assembled, incoherent representation of what constitutes Zimbabwean art. 
When one assembles a visual art exhibition which meant to reflect the ethos and aesthetic identity of a country it is important to take into account the various

chronological developments of the visual arts and the current trajectory of its possibilities and potential.
The fact that a common identity emerges through the visual arts is a reflection of the coherence, vitality and the strong sense of identity, which Zimbabwean art

embodies, even in the face of change.
The development of the visual arts in this country has become a powerful and valid means of expressing a developing cultural awareness which asserts the primacy of the image as an important vestibule for cultural communication and takes into account the diverse socio-cultural accounts of this country.

Given that most diplomatic appointees are only appointed for a period not normally exceeding three years, they do not often have a comprehensive understanding of the country, the history, the people, its culture and its art.

The exhibition currently showing has been hastily assembled by inexperienced functionaries of the Spanish Embassy, and an equally inexperienced curator. It                   bears testimony to the lack of professional curatorship skills.

Certain questions arise:

• What is the purpose of the exhibition, given that the two appointees in question are due to leave at the end of July?

• What are the benefits to Zimbabwean artists and the nation for this exhibition given that the artworks were uniformly priced at the derogatory payment of US$350 a piece, regardless of the expertise and provenance of the works and their creators?

• How does the exhibition educate or elucidate any new aspects of our visual culture?

For how long are Zimbabweans artists going to                       undersell themselves and their cultural property as though they are tomatoes and onions at a market?  Could we do this in Spain or anywhere else in the world for that matter?

Zimbabwean artists have for long been exploited by some diplomatic representatives who have set their own value to our intellectual and cultural property without professional advice.
If Zimbabwean artists want to be taken seriously on international art forums then they ought to re-think how their works are curated and represented.