Arts Correspondent
Over the course of 37 years, from 1987 to 2024, Tony Michel Monda’s total immersion in research, appreciation and critique of the visual arts, music, theatre and dance, is apparent to anyone who reads his critiques or encounters his interviews.
His commitment and passionate ingenuity has made him one of our era’s most gifted individual voices defining our cultural history with authority and effortless originality, his position of authority in the front ranks of art education, cultural development, art curatorship and mentorship in Zimbabwe is unquestioned.
At the age of 24, Monda had completed a Master of Arts in Post-Modern Art Criticism and by the age of 30, not only had the informed eye of an art and antique connoisseur, but the practical and academic knowledge to assess, curate and predict art trends and market forces in the creative industry.
Monda’s authority and clear sightedness is backed by continuous research and persistent liaison and networking with artists from all genres, from the point of creation to completion and marketing.
Numerous studio visits to the visual artists in their work spaces give him chronological and intimate knowledge and insights into the state of the arts in the nation.
As an art critic, lecturer, assayer and legal advisor on the art industry, Monda, with his customary eloquence of phrase, empathy of understanding for the artist and scrupulous scholarship, justified his appointments and international invitations where he has represented Zimbabwe on numerous art forums and international conferences, symposia and government policy workshops.
Having encountered the highest levels of art and diplomacy in Europe, America and the African region, he has literally served as a global arts ambassador for Zimbabwe paving the way for cultural engagement from the mid-1990s to the present 2024.
Diplomatic engagement and cultural exchange, through Zimbabwe’s creative industries is a yet unplumbed channel for development which Monda has carried out over a decades of his own volition.
As co-founder of Springstone International Art Gallery, situated on Idlehurst Way in Avondale,
Harare, in 1994, Monda declared his intent to develop an indigenous patronage of the arts through a concerted media campaign, lectures and talks.
Whilst serving at Springstone International Art Gallery as a co-director and curator, the art critic and cultural consultant provided a window into the soul of Zimbabwean culture casting a positive light on the national image. From 1996 to 2009, Monda gave lectures on art and culture which included management and administration of visual and performing arts; maritime export, of art and cultural products; art and law; intellectual property; conveyance of artworks and other movable property; laws on art and cultural restitution; copyright and intellectual property; Since 1989, at the age of 24, Monda has distinguished himself over the years not only as an artist, but also as a dedicated custodian of the visual arts of his country. He advocated tirelessly, at the highest levels of relevant authorities in government, the diplomatic community and the private sector, for improved education in the arts and for the sustainable, professional development of Zimbabwean artists. His art and cultural advocacy, inspirational writing and perceptive prose over the decades have been instrumental in the formulation of Zimbabwe’s visual art and heritage Education curriculums.
Forthright in his aesthetic valuation, critical analysis and assessment of Zimbabwean art, he is considered a luminary in the arts of Zimbabwe, and is credited for discovering new art and new artists and creating a following for them through his art columns.
Now an independent and candid international art consultant, appraiser-essayer and advisory specialist Monda, has a national voice in decisions relating to the governance, policy-making, management, administration and documentation of art and cultural matters. Monda has been quoted and published in leading international art journals, books and exhibition catalogues, deciphering the cryptic nuances of contemporary African art and the inventiveness of the artists, with insight and empathy.
His discourse and lectures are a mine of information, pivotal in the development of the creative economy of Zimbabwe, particularly the economic and legal aspects of art.
Monda, through his countless perceptive and inspirational articles aimed at the advancement of the visual arts of Zimbabwe, has influenced Zimbabwe’s government policies on Art education and culture, since 1989.
His discourse on the visual arts cascades into the national education curricula, business and legal parameters for the development of contemporary visual and performing arts, literature, culture, heritage and humanities of his country.
As a result, Monda spearheaded the formulation of the visual Arts, Music, and Dance and Heritage sections of the Zimbabwean national school curriculum in 2015.
As a committed educator, Monda contributed to the production of several educational documents, including the EU’s 2009-2027 Strategic Plan for the Development of Botswana’s National Arts Institute, under the auspices of ARS Progetti. In 2017 he participate at the Ministry of Education’s 3rd Education Conference-Expo, under the auspices of the Curriculum Development Unit, and officiated by President Robert Gabriel Mugabe, with whom he posited his candid opinions on arts education and the need to develop infrastructure to facilitate future art production in the country.
As the first Zimbabwean artist with legal knowledge in the arts, Monda was a major contributor and guest consultant to the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs’ document – Zimbabwe Intellectual Property and implementation Policy (ZNIPPIS), formulated to ensure Intellectual Property in its entirety. He also contributed widely to Culture Fund’s research and documentation projects.
Monda made history as one of the first African art critics to create an arts column in the national press solely for the appreciation of the arts; from visual to performing and literary arts. His knowledge of the alpha-cultures of various ethnic sub-groups and tribal nuances of the indigenous peoples of Zimbabwe distinguish him as an art critic, cultural advocate and publicist for the visual arts. Fluent in English, Shona, Swahili, Ndebele and Zulu, and working knowledge in French, German, Dutch and Afrikaans, the arts diplomat worked closely with the diplomatic communities in South Africa, Namibia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
During his career Monda was associate editor for the National Art Gallery of Zimbabwe’s Southern African Art Journal and was an art critic, cultural analyst and historian to The Herald and Sunday Times; the now defunct Horizon. Everyhome and the Artist Magazines (Zimbabwe); The Standard,
Independent, Sunday Mail, Daily News, Daily News on Sunday and Patriot newspapers (Zimbabwe); and was editor-in-chief of Springstone Art Publications (Zimbabwe) from 1994-2007. His press engagements and journal assignments also include The San Francisco Chronicle, California; Washington Post, Washington DC; St. Louis Post Dispatch; New York Times and New York Daily; Corporate Art News (New York); Southampton University Arts Journal (UK); Courthauld Institute of Art journal (London); Black Arts Journal (UK); Black Art Alliance; “Live Arts” panel of the Arts Council of England; the Paul Hamlynn Foundation (UK); Wakati Ni Huyu Swahili newspaper (Tanzania); VISI and Fuse Magazines (SA);
Monda contributed extensively to other literary commissions; such as an introduction for Kunst Kuwirirana; chapters for the French Embassy’s book Pierre – Zimbabwe Stone Sculpture a
Retrospective; the Belgian Tervuren Museum’s book, Legacies 0f Stone; Zimbabwe Past and Present; former Italian ambassador to Zimbabwe, Fernando Mor’s book, Shona Sculpture; Contemporary Sculptors in Zimbabwe – Stone, Impulse, Contrast, facilitated by the German
Embassy, and Shona – Skulptur, in Wuppertal, Germany. He was contributing editor for Dudziro, for Zimbabwe’s maiden entry at the 55 th entry – La Biennale di Venezia, the international art exhibitions held in Venice, Italy. He was commissioned to write by the Embassy of Sweden and the American Embassy to write Tabvezera – a final year art exhibition by students at Harare Polytechnic and PFEPFAR’s exhibition “Artists Against AIDS”, sponsored by the American Embassy’s Public Affairs Section for which he was also the main adjudicator.
Monda served as a foreign affairs docent on Zimbabwean art, history and appreciation at the University of Dare-es-Salaam, Nyumba ya Sanaa, the British Council in Tanzania, and Oyster Bay Art Centre, in Dar-es-Salaam; a guest lecturer in the Fine Art department at Harare Polytechnic
Zimbabwe and an interim guest consultant on art and media communications at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. He worked with BBC4 (UK), Telerama, L’Humanite Paris, France,
TV5 France, SABC, SATV 567 Cape Town, Media 24 and Mnet, South Africa.
Noted for his articulate prose and thought-provoking intellectual insight his articles reflect a personal mission to illuminate the various experiences of Zimbabwean artists to the rest of the world.
An indefatigable worker, artist and painter of words, his critical eye grasps the artist’s concepts, visualizations and the image building process to enable the local viewer and world audiences an appreciation of the socio-economic values and cultural matrix of the nation.
Deeply committed to the visual arts of his country, in the late 1980s, Monda strongly advocated for a Zimbabwean association of visual artists and designers. Subsequently, in1989, he was elected as the public relations director for the now defunct, The Zimbabwean Association of Visual Artists, Crafts-people and Designers – ZAVACAD.
In 1993, Monda became the first Zimbabwean honorary member of the Smithsonian Museum and a member of the African Council of African Studies Association (ACASA), based at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC, where he delivered several essays. He is also a Fellow of Contemporary Arts and an Associate Member of the World Academy of Art and Literature in the United Kingdom.
In 1994, at the age of 29, Monda represented Zimbabwe (when Zimbabwe was represented for the first time on a world art forum), at the ground-breaking INIVA – New Internationalism Conference at the Tate Gallery, London, and was selected a Life Member of the Association Internationale des Critiques dArt (AICA), based in Paris, France. Subsequently he was elected as Founding President of the Zimbabwean Chapter of the International World Body of Art Critics (AICA).
A position he has retained for over two decades- (1995-2024).
As the first indigenous president of the Zimbabwe Art Critics Association, Monda is still active
internationally and has represented Zimbabwean at various international symposia on art and the humanities in Europe, Asia, Africa and the United States.
At the seminal Africa ’95, the first African Art Critics Conference held at the Courthauld Institute of Art in London, Monda was selected as the first indigenous African artist-critic-curator to present his paper entitled “The State of Zimbabwean Art”.
He advised on how to culturally and diplomatically engage Zimbabwe and Southern Africa with the First World. He also made history as the youngest and first indigenous African art critic in his national section.
Monda’s contribution “Art Criticism in Africa”, was published by Saffron books in 1997, in conjunction with the International Association of Art Critics (AICA).
The ground-breaking Africa 95 conference works included Monda’s essay “Role of the Art Critic in Zimbabwe”, which received wide acclaim from critics and educators worldwide and shed light on institutional and administrative issues on contemporary culture in Post- colonial Africa. The ground-breaking work, received wide acclaim from critics and educators worldwide.
The art critic and African art consultant has since represented Zimbabwe at various symposia
around the world, amongst them: notably the 1st Dak’Art, Panel Discussions and the Arts Education Salon in Dakar, Senegal; the Young African Global Leaders Conference at the World Economic Forum, in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania, under the auspices of the Executive Secretary of the Fondation pour le Reinforcement des Capacites en Afrique, Monda spoke on a sustainable cultural policy at a symposium on the aesthetic and monetary evaluation of African art and antiques, in Paris, France; a congress in Oslo, Norway, focused on art, sexuality, gender and power and a World Art Convention and an intensive workshop covering “Art and Copyright Laws” at UNESCO Headquarters, in Paris, France.
Monda attended the 35th Annual Congress of AICA-2001, held in Zagreb and Dubrovnik, Croatia.
He was selected by the German Foreign Office and GOETHE-Zentrum Institute in Zimbabwe to represent Zimbabwe at the DOCUMENTA-2007, in Kassel, Germany, where he attended Visitors’ Programme for Sub-Saharan Artists and art experts.
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