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At the Gallery
The National Gallery of Zimbabwe has staged an art exhibition entitled Contemporary Art for Schools exhibition specifically tailored to meet the needs of the ‘O’ level Art Curriculum. Artistic works have existed for almost as long as human kind.

Artistic works have existed for almost as long as humankind, from early pre-historic art contemporary art. The main thrust of the exhibition is to complement the teacher’s resources in the art classroom.

The term contemporary art is loosely used to refer to art of the present day and of the relatively recent past, of an innovatory or avant-garde nature.

The art is a dynamic combination of materials, methods, concepts, and subjects that challenge traditional boundaries and defy easy definition. Diverse and eclectic, contemporary art as a whole is distinguished by the very lack of a uniform, organising principle, ideology.

The oldest documented forms of art are visual, such as creation of images or objects including painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, and other visual media.

Art has a polysemous nature hence interpretation differs according to demographic factors such as religion, political affiliation and other societal characteristics.

This exhibition explores a select group of Zimbabwean artists in the National Gallery of Zimbabwe’s Permanent Collection who produced artworks that were significant to their time and have work that speaks to the art curriculum in schools.

The National Gallery of Zimbabwe is a Culture Institution where culture is preserved through exhibitions. Its permanent collection has several collections representing diverse cultures. With the advent of the new Curriculum Introduced by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary education in 2017 culture will be preserved, promoted, and transmitted from generation to generation much more vigorously and effectively.

This exhibition explores how artworks that were collected by the National Gallery of Zimbabwe were significant to their time and how the artists who produced these artworks were exploring issues that were symbolic of the existing social, political and economic situation of their time thus mapping the history of contemporary art making in Zimbabwe.

Art operates as a variant of civic society where the main concern for the artist is to play an “active role of presenting information to the readers to motivate community action in order to solve problems and . . . for citizens to be politically active” (Arandt and Meyer 1998, 205).

The exhibition includes the works of a myriad of artist Gareth Nyandoro, Tapfuma Gutsa, Masimba Hwati, Misheck Masamvu, Chikonzero Chazunguza, Munyarardzi Mazarire,Cosmas Shiridzinomwa, Agnes Nyanhongo, Charles Bhebhe, Dominic Benhura, Hillary Kashiri, David Chinyama, Admire Kamudzengerere, Lovemore Kambudzi,Voti Thebe, Shephard Mahufe, Sam Songo, Mercy Moyo, Doris Kamupira, Rashid Jogee, Tafadzwa Gwetai, Nicolas Mukomeranwa, Portia Zvavahera and Helen Lieros.

The Zimbabwe Contemporary Art Schools exhibition is on view at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in the Joseph Ndandarika Gallery.