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At the Gallery
The National Gallery of Zimbabwe in conjunction with the Environmental Management Agency will host the “Tavatose/Sisonke” 2016 Schools Annual Visual Art Exhibition. The exhibition will focus on waste management under the theme ‘Waste no Waste, Waste is Treasure’. The show is scheduled to run from the July 9 to August 8 at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe.

The theme shows how vital recycling is. Recycling is important in today’s world if we want to leave this planet for our future generations. It is good for the environment, since we are making new products from the used material which is no longer of use to us.

The “Tavatose/Sisonke” initiative is a platform to summon all provinces in Zimbabwe to have their students produce bodies of art that respond to the theme of making use of waste. The exhibition is being organised by the National Gallery of Zimbabwe with support from the Environmental Management Agency.

This theme was selected as a means to make school children aware of their obligations to up-cycling. This will inspire these children to take responsibility for what they buy and how they dispose of it, thus promoting the element of all of us being responsible for the waste we generate, most of which will last for many decades to come.

The Partnership between the National Gallery of Zimbabwe and EMA has brought a new awareness into schools of recycling and enabling many school children from across Zimbabwe’s ten provinces to lend their voices to the discourse of a green environment.

Visual narratives have facilitated this and have improved their artistic skills. There are plenty of facts out there on why recycling is important. The world population is growing extensively, and currently each human being adds significant waste to the planet over his or her lifetime.

Waste Management is there to serve two purposes of recycling: First: it avoids landfills and helps in reducing air and water pollution and secondly: valuable material such as aluminium cans, plastic and glass are reused in other forms and not wasted.

Since we are saving resources and sending less trash to the landfills, important energy saving is achieved that is if we are to reduce the future effects of global warming.

Children have searched for inspiration that surround them while others express their feelings about the topic through the artwork. They have recycled or reused objects to make attractive pieces of contemporary art and literally turn everyday trash into creative treasures.

Some have created compositions from recycled plastic bags, bottle tops and old newspapers which are so inviting to take a look at, and the national adjudication is over of which selected art works will be exhibited at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe.

The aim of the exhibition is to groom artistic talent at a young age at the same time focusing on specific areas of concern for the nation. This will also improve a greater awareness of the importance of the causes of degradation of this amazing planet we live on. In addition, this show will hopefully facilitates conscientising in children to think differently about how they live and consume.

This is a platform for the young children to showcase their creativity in a way that contributes to a better society. This is what the National Gallery of Zimbabwe and EMA have aimed to achieve through “Tavatose/ Sisonke” Schools Annual Visual Art exhibitions. This can help us in making our planet a better place to live.