In the 1960s, Africa was collectively seized with decolonization, lobbying against apartheid and gaining political independence under the aegis of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), now the African Union (AU).
A collection of all the featured artists in Issue 7 of the POVO Journal - Zimbabwe @35 Edition, 2015
Photography - Osborne Macharia (Kenya)
Illustration - Tafadzwa Tarumbwa
Photography - Darius Mutamba
The complexities of working in film production always bring out the best or worst in us. Can you imagine shooting a film that will be 90 minutes long when it is complete – having to shoot it in a jumbled up manner and then having to put it up together in post-production in an order that will make sense and make people love it, rate it and even pay money to watch or own a copy?
A collection of defining moments in Zimbabwe's history from 1980 - 2015. Marking 35 years of Independance.
1980
- Zimbabwe attains independence from British colonial rule after 2nd Chimurenga, a war of liberation
- Bob Marley was the first international artist to perform in Zimbabwe at the independence celebrations.
- Women’s hockey team win a gold medal at the Moscow Summer Olympics. In all Zimbabwe sent 42 competitors (23 men and 19 women) in 10 sports and has not sent that many to date.
I started photography in 2008, introduced by Buyaphi Mdledle from Cape Town. I have exhibited in Zimbabwe, South Afrika, Europe and other parts of Afrika. I enjoy collaborating with artists and engaging in workshops. Themes I enjoy tackling include women and society.
My work is inspired by emotions and things that I have been through in my life and try to portray it through photography and explain my inner feelings to the world. I am inspired by what other people are going through as well.
We do see not far, nor do we learn much. Lack of vision says it’s okay to fight for waitress and gardener jobs in a continent that we call home. Not that there is anything wrong with these jobs it’s just that they should be the alternative and not the norm. Lack of vision replaces failing systems and flawed recipes with foreigners. It limits our ability to identify stumbling blocks so we keep falling over in the same place. Think about this for a minute:
Not so long ago did we joke and caution ourselves when in Harare to mind the tomatoes on the street pavements. Back then there was only a handful of vendors on the streets of Harare. Astonishing it is how over the years things have changed from simply minding the tomatoes to minding everything that ranges from merchandise to people on the very same pavements.
True to the belief amongst many that everything is big and better in South Africa, many artists have chosen to cross the border into this land of imagined milk and honey. Some have made it, some are still trying and some can no longer fathom coming back home empty handed. To artists, the Mzansi magic seems to be working its way and they are not complaining. The likes of Buffalo Soldier, Shingirai Mau Mau, Leeroy Gopal, Arnold Chirisa have made their mark in South Africa.
What is ComExposed
EM: ComExposed is an organisation we founded together to promote comic books and help out the comic book artists, and bring them together to the rest of the world, the general public and the corporate world. To just introduce Zimbabwe to the culture of comic books and how everyone can benefit and enjoy it
You say industrial Design is unknown in Zimbabwe. Can you explain what it involves?
Well, at its most basic, Industrial Design involves the design of products that serve a particular function from concepts, manufacturing through to usage and disposal. What they call product lifecycle. It can be any product, your cellphone for example. At some point it was conceived and designed by someone. Industrial design was closely linked to mass produced consumer products but now it’s much broader.
