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At The Gallery
Creative partnership between institutions of culture and fundamental communities may not be the only means to alleviate poverty, but with a well-engineered shift in education, training and empowerment policy, the culture sector can be set to standards which are able to earn revenue through cultural tourism and the initiation of cultural symposia in each sub-sector.

The exchange of ideas in culture can bring to effect many forms of innovation if the implications are not overlooked by decision makers, for instance if Government were to approach ceramists, who in the developed world come up with physical prototypes for vehicles and pneumatic systems, could industry in general not be resuscitated by visual gifts of such individuals?

Beyond the axiom, society continues to downgrade the practitioners of cultural activities as pastime or all out entertainers when the truth is the exact opposite.

Noteworthy is the point that the artist represents an estate that is unclassified in the matrix of many plans for development whereas a majority of the population are suitably employed in the sector.

The concept of cultural villages is a subtle means of protecting the immaterial heritage of a people as the practitioners, notably actors and artisanal designers conduct strenuous research into the lifestyle of a descendant culture.

Such a concept would also break into providing jobs and if established within a trust set up, it would become a generator of income not only for the immediate employees of the cultural village, but the community in which it is established.

The benefits of having such complexes would be the preservation of language and knowledge systems which at this point in time are poorly documented and not available to the greater segment of public.

An interactive establishment of culture makes it easier for the public to understand information about various aspects of culture and to the learner this would be an innovative means of learning which is a way of learning that is not limited to the trivial, one-sided pedagogy of the textbook.

As for the visual artist there stands so much potential for the largest base of the arts as any impressions made by the arts, design and craft sectors can translate to industrial self-sustenance.

Many artists in Zimbabwe have shifted in mentality through becoming self-sustainable and each represents a great outlet for industrialising.

Artists such as Helen Lieros, Admire Kamdzengerere and Calvin Chimtuwah have become adept at creating pigments for use in creating their own art.

The value of artist’s paints is considerably high and depending on the quality of the pigment becomes a luxury brand suitable for export.

This is overlooked in successive empowerment schemes as it does not consider the unlimited nature of the artist which has not only the ability to create artworks, but to craft the tools they themselves would need to create the artwork.

This example of self-sustenance is overlooked as the visual art sub-sector is able to generate hundreds of millions of dollars.

To the discerning investor or policymaker the question would be “Why invest in visual art” and the natural answer would be creativity.

At this point in time, Zimbabwe does not have a creative economy because the most basic facets of the creative matrix, the creative industry is in all aspects not attained. Zimbabwe has an underfunded and unappreciated creative sector and in its various sub-sectors has no stability and opportunities for advance without external funding.

The evolution into industry would economically empower not only the creative but all other industries in Zimbabwe. In a situation where Zimbabwe has a creative economy there would be the creative class who serve as think tanks for all the other industries.

The formal sector is set to benefit from such a class as innovation in culture presents various economic opportunities such as having Zimbabwean cities becoming design and cultural cities where concept is needed to solve issues like population distribution and industrialisation.

Research and development would be made easier by engaging artists to come up with concepts and impressions on applicable and sustainable solutions to problems that the nation is facing for example power and water crisis. Artist’s impressions have been used in the past to provide blueprints for engineers to construct most of the structures that are in existence today, the abandonment of the creative sector would in effect leave development in a static state!

The curious interaction between designers, artists and craftsmen in a European Union funded project entitled the Basket Case II, now open at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, is testament to the relevance of culture in society. What arose from the project was not baskets but templates on form and space that can be transferred to architecture, engineering and manufacturing.

The raw materials from the project were at very little cost and are accessible to different communities and above all such activities can employ and remunerate all parties involved.