The Sunday News
Ntombiyolwandle Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter
THE National Art Gallery in Bulawayo has opened a solo exhibition hosted by Dr Jimmy Thekwane Gazi, which is made up of 62 artistic pieces collected in different parts of Africa.
This is the first time for Gazi, a medical practitioner by profession to exhibit art works at the Gallery.
In an interview, the Gallery assistant curator Clifford Zulu said the exhibition will run under the theme UThekwane Art Exhibition. The exhibition was launched a fortnight ago and will run until 18 April.
“UThekwane is a sacred rain bird, which is called hamerkop in English. Myth has it that due to its wisdom and powers to foretell events, the bird was widely used by traditional healers, witchdoctors and cult followers to predict people’s destiny,” he explained.
Zulu outlined the importance of the exhibition, saying it was essential to document African artefacts and heritage.
“We want to show people the functions and uses of these traditional art pieces and how they worked among different ethnic groups. Local people tend to shun our traditional heritage, thus this exhibition seeks to educate people on the significance of our traditions. Such exhibitions help with the research of art history of Bulawayo and is relevant to our culture as Zimbabweans,” he said
Gazi told Sunday Life that he named his exhibition UThekwane because he collected art works from different places throughout Africa in a similar way the bird does.
“UThekwane is also famed for collecting all forms of ‘bric and brac’ into its net thus I termed my exhibition Thekwane in which I showcase art pieces that I have been gathering throughout Africa,” said Gazi.
Gazi is showcasing art works that are ranging from mammal skins, soft wood, see shells and ancestral sculptures that he collected throughout Africa.
“I was collecting mostly traditional artefacts from across Africa bringing out different cultures of African people.
Most of my pieces came from Congo, Cameroon, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi,” he said.
Gazi said he developed a passion for the arts at a tender age.
“Since childhood, I used to collect meaningless pieces of wood and stones and arrange them into neat patterns in my room. In the early years I visited galleries such as Matombo in Harare and I would then attempt to buy soapstone pieces from roadside sellers since I could not afford those at Matombo,” he said.
