6 Zim creatives exhibit at Lagos art fair

Audrey Galawu

Renowned Zimbabwean contemporary artists are participating in West Africa’s biggest international art fair, the Art X Lagos in Nigeria.

Virginia Chihota, Gideon Gomo, Masimba Hwati, Gareth Nyandoro and Portia Zvavahera are featuring in the Tiwani Contemporary group exhibition, “I See You” which is a marker of time, community, and a significant moment in the careers of the artists.

The Tiwani showcase is beginning today (4 November 2022) and runs until 14 January 2023.

The fair in the West African country is aimed at showcasing and celebrating artistic excellence from Africa and beyond.

National Gallery of Zimbabwe (NGZ) Executive Director Raphael Chikukwa said the showcase is an opportunity for Zimbabwean artists to showcase their talent and network with other artists.

“Being at the Art X Lagos, the presence of six Zimbabweans should make us celebrate.

“As part of the Afreximbank Art Programme, which is one of the Art X Lagos sponsors, it provides me with an opportunity to network and cheer our artists too.

“Zimbabwean art visibility at these global and continental platforms is key to the growth of our sector,” he said.

Zvavahera and Gomo will be featured as artists-in-residence at Guest Artist Space Foundation, a subsidiary of the Yinka Shonibare Foundation where the two artists will research tie-and-dying techniques, printmaking and sculpture and assemblages made from local materials respectively.

One of the artists, Chihota - who works with drawing, painting and silkscreen - will get to showcase her 2022 ‘Nharo Dzakanyarara (A Quiet Resistance)’ canvas.

She uses her art to address issues faced by women, including fertility and isolation issues and once represented the country at the 55th Venice Biennale.

ART X Lagos was launched as a dynamic platform to showcase and support the breadth of contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora.