Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe
Cory Manoogian

Zimbabwe is named after Great Zimbabwe, the twelfth- to fifteenth-century stone-built capital of the Rozwi Shona dynasty. The civilization of Great Zimbabwe was one of the most significant civilizations in the world during the Medieval period. The extensive trading network made Great Zimbabwe a prolific trading region, the main trading items were gold, iron, copper, tin, cattle, and also cowrie shells. Great Zimbabwe was once a magnificent royal place, but due to political instability and water shortages caused by climate change Great Zimbabwe was eventually abandoned and settled by English colonialist in the late 19th century. The Zimbabweans, unlike Americans did not claim their independence from the Europeans until 1980, which up until then-Zimbabwe's terrain would be run by guerillas of warfare. Zimbabwe had been controlled by the white-supremacist Rhodesia, who refused to believe the ancient ruins of Great Zimbabwe were built by the native Africans. The Rhodesians suppressed the black natives and controlled all of the good farming land, a civil war was an inevitable future. The two sides fought from 1966 to 1979 and in 1980 reached an agreement with the nationalists gaining political independence.

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It would appear that the whole country was lifted by the highs of Bob Marley and victory, but everything was not all gravy after that. Still in power were the minority-elite landowners and the country was still very poor. The fighting was not over and the struggle for power began within the country. Zimbabwe has been riddled with tragedy ever since its reign as a dominant ancient monarchy was over. If it was not war then it was racism, corruption, AIDS, cholera, unbearable climates, disputes over land or anthrax terrorizing the country. It is difficult to find a place to stick education between all of that. The arts have actually found a home or at least a purpose for the civilians to express themselves through the turmoil, but it was never cemented in education. During the colonial era, arts education was traditionally viewed in Zimbabwe as a subject for the urban white students, specifically for the ones with the least potential in the job market or women ( who had few career options outside of marriage). Arts education did not pick up speed after the revolution. Due to the financial attention required on rebuilding a nation, arts education was set aside much like it is here in America, labeling it as expensive and non-academic. There is an extreme lack of funding for education in Zimbabwe, and the teachers and students pay the price. The government of Zimbabwe is in control of education under a sector called The Ministry of Education, Sport, Art and Culture, but when recently visiting their website, the arts section is still under construction. The government is shifting towards placing Art in primary schools, just as soon as they get the money.



Nicolas Mukomberanwa- Artist Profile

Nicolas Mukomberanwa was born in the Buhera district of Zimbabwe in 1940. As a child he worked in a rural environment that is said to be his biggest influence on his work, describing it as, "a wonderful place to grow up - surrounded by mountains and rivers with places full of trees." Like many Zimbabweans, Nicolas was very crafty. At the Serima Mission School, he was introduced to the art of wood-carving. He began working with Father Frank McEwan, a man who trained Nicolas but without using to much control over him, he simply guided Nicolas in the right direction as many Christian priests are trained to do. This allowing of the natural talents to pour out of him with all of the natural influences of the environment led to inspiring new sculptures from an early age. This philosophy stayed with him as he grew older. He wanted to do things his own way, he wanted to learn to solve problems and resolve issues. He began working as a policeman and he insisted it would make him a better artist. "There is one thing in my life that determines all else. I want to be a great artist - I want to work so I can express what I feel and think truly myself in my own way." Nicolas was a man who truly expressed himself and everything he sees around him influenced his work. You will see scenes from the bible in his work along with traditional West African images. His technique developed with time and the mood of each decade. His work is very powerful and confident which leads to the belief that it will be preserved as great works of Zimbabwean history. Like many Zimbabwean artists, his work portrays a lot of political tones that express the feelings of discontent with the way things are going. One of his most famous sculptures is called the "Corrupting Power of Money". A piece he created (below to the right) called "third eye" sold in the U.S for $19,000

Zimbabwe Artists Project

Through education, sale of their art in the U.S., and special projects, Zimbabwe Artists Project (ZAP) helps women become economically self-sufficient. ZAP started in 1997 when a professor named Dick Adams took his students to a place called Weya, where women do art while their husbands are usually off in the city for jobs and away for extended periods of time. Dick Adams arranged for his students to stay 30 days and lived with the families for that month, at the end of the trip, the women asked Dick, a professor of sociology to find a market for their art in the states, and that is when it began. Weya is a beautiful place, but it is not a very economically advantageous area. It would be impossible to support a family via farming, so the women live off the profit of their artwork. Most of the women support a household on their own because they are widowed or have never been married. The organization also provides health care for all the participants, men and women. ZAP chooses not to expand to be too large so it stays as a close-knit organization and maintain their resources as best as they can. Dick wants to "humanize" Africa so its not an awful continent containing only fighting, diseases, etc. The arts bring the people together, and there are 75 artists in ZAP. It is not easy but he makes sure that the artists have dignity and respect for what they do. ZAP has developed the town of Weya into a reasonable place to live, working on a clean-water project, responding to the AIDS/ HIV crisis, and all the necessary advancements needed to shelter this wonderful organization, including a constitution. Artists have used this income to rebuild fragile houses, meet major medical emergencies, care for AIDS orphans, and enter teacher-training college.

Teacher Training Programs

Zimbabwe Integrated Teacher Education Course (ZINTEC)- This program was designed to fast-track teachers in the the occupation due to the rising need of educators in the post-independence era. After Zimbabwe earned it independence, she put a great emphasis on education and raising the literacy rate. Zimbabwe proclaimed that education should be free for all and went on to distribute it to all ages, children and adult. There were many results that came from this. One was that the literacy rate rose from 40% to an astounding 97%. Also, the need for teachers increased ten-fold. ZINTEC began to pump out teachers at an enormously fast rate, leading to unqualified and underpaid teachers. Among the subjects being taught were Art as well as: • Co-curricular Activities • English • Environmental Science • HIV / AIDS Education • Home Economics • Mathematics • Music • Physical Education • Religious and Moral Education • Shona/Ndebele • Social Studies

Art will always have a heavy influence on Zimbabwean culture, as evidence of cave paintings of bushmen to the Zimbabwe Institute of Vigital arts, which focus is on teaching Vigital Arts - the fusion of Visual and Digital media. Or the Grassroots Theatre Company, which is volunteer based but educated in all fields of teaching and learning Art with a wide range of ages.

Funding Art in Zimbabwe <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">- The Government in Zimbabwe views art as elitist and colonialist, therefore they do not spend a lot of time worrying about the financial situation of it, considering it unthreatening. There is no government arts funding and no arts policy. Zimbabwe has an unemployment rate of 85%. Artists cannot sell their work let alone afford the necessary tools to make art. The government has little to do with the art world in Zimbabwe, except for being the subject of some passionately created work stemming from the people's misfortunes. Artists in Zimbabwe are generally respected but not funded. This is a difficult period for Zimbabwe right now and the voices of discontent from the artists will be heard for free.

Conclusion What I found out about Zimbabwe was not shocking, I knew that it had a rich history filled with art and beautiful ancient landscapes, and I knew that the funding for education would be low considering all the hardships the people have to endure from the AIDS virus to the political incompetence and corruption. There were similarities between the way that they treat art and the way that we do. They put art way behind math and science and do not put any emphasis on teaching it. What I did notice, is that there are people who understand art in Zimbabwe, and are probably the most level-headed and relatable people in that country. One thing for sure is that art can bring people together because it is all the same language.

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Sources http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-5949.00306/abstract http://zimbabweartistsproject.org/products-page/ http://www.zimsculpt.com/artist.php?id=125 http://www.refugeesintoteaching.org.uk/OneStopCMS/Core/CrawlerResourceServer.aspx?resource=4563EFDC-AA96-4A62-A06C-EF2C8760111B&mode=link&guid=1b374b8c5c1f444cb8a8995676f5141a http://www.threesquare.com/artworkweya.html http://www.smac.us/2010/02/16/the-relative-merits-of-censorship/ http://www.moesc.gov.zw/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57&Itemid=37

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