BY DR TONY MONDA
THE African women’s yokes and bondage in colonial times prevented them from practising their art in public spaces. The intellectual, social and cultural space of African women in formerly colonized nations had been restricted and socially reduced in importance to the backroom of contemporary art and thinking.
It has thus been ingrained in our mental associations to relate the African woman artist with the minor arts of domestic utility crafts, batiks, pottery, basketry and beadwork.
Zimbabwe is one of the few countries where traditionally and culturally, women have societal
influence and power and gender equality in the socio-cultural and socio-political spheres.
Royal queens, spirit mediums and female political leaders have been guiding our cultural way of life for centuries.
We have a national symbol of colonial resistance in the person of Ambuya Nehanda and we have the Shona concept of Sherukuru – a female-led spiritual aristocracy which acknowledges the governance role of women in our societies.
Zimbabweans are astutely aware of the relevance of, and the decisive role that females play in
leadership, creativity, domestic and cultural spaces. Further, the accommodative nature of Shona cultural ways recognises the talent, vision leadership and the guardianship roles that women play in Zimbabweans society – from the early education of children to the maternal advice of mid-wives; our aunts and tetes have been given a decisive voice in our communities.
The making of pottery and other practicalities that go with ritual and ceremony are the artisanal domain of women. They also create our processional percussion instruments – i.e. rattles, hosho, gourds, ankle rattles; clean the deze that houses and carries the Mbira and are responsible for the ceremonial preparation, arrangement and consummation of African indigenous socio-religious activities.
The field of Occidental art has a history of omitting women from their social positions and influential roles of governance. Western contemporary gender discourse in the arts at times limits critical commentary on art created by African women. Contemporary art made by African women in particular, is often erroneously associated with minor arts.
This Western anomaly denies the African women artist a contemporary identity; belittles their intelligence and undermines their creative abilities and philosophies.
It is refreshing therefore, to note that a comparative number of indigenous Zimbabwean women artists have acquired post-graduate art education and technical experience in Occidental universities and are addressing post-colonial African and global socio-cultural and political issues in their discourse.
Today, in independent Zimbabwe, women artists of indigenous ethnicities are responsible for great works of contemporary art. Progressive indigenous Zimbabwean women artists include:
printmakers, photographers, sculptors and videographers, whose achievements have gone largely unnoticed despite their outstanding proficiency.
Following Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, the indigenous artist needed new impulses for artistic self-expression and these were manifested in the art created by the new rank of Post-Independent African women artists most of whom were active but unacknowledged.
The women artists of today are made up of post-graduates, self-taught and intuitive artists.
Artists, Agnes Nyanhongo, the late Colleen Madamombe, Locardia Ndandarika, Letwin Mugavazi, Berry Bickle, Gillian Rosselli, Olga Azevedo, Marjorie Wallace, Netsayi Mukomberanwa, Estelle Mbefura, Semina Mpofu, Gemma Rodrigues, Zanele Anne Mutema, and Ashley Breda, Mercy Moyo, Davina Joggi, Doris Kamumpira and Juliet Copperi, are some of the many that have achieved international recognition but remain comparatively unacknowledged at home.
Doris Kamumpira, Juliette Copperi and Mercy Moyo are contemporary women blacksmiths and
metal forgers who tackle the hammer and anvil, welding and assembling metal artworks. All have fared extremely well in the male dominated world of metal sculpture, metal forging, blacksmithing and assemblage art.
Although economically, they may have gained a livelihood from their artistic activities, many had not gained social recognition until the mid-1990, while others became visible in the new millennium.
Zimbabwe’s women artists have won international awards and have endorsed Zimbabwe as an
artistic incubator to be reckoned with. Their art works explore the questions of identity and racism, as well as ideas and theories relating to socio-economic criticism of the spaces women occupy in formerly colonised African societies and tackle African socio-cultural issues that are often misunderstood and misconstrued in the Western world.
The art works among some of the more experimental and dynamic young artists celebrate
contemporary female accomplishments and the power of the crafted object as a culturally valuable asset.
It is not by coincidence that today Zimbabwean women are holding their own and proving their mettle in international artistic discourse in their expression of our culture.
To date there are over 73 known and world-recognised Zimbabwean women sculptors, painters, printmakers, textile artists, filmmakers and graphic artists. Chances are, there are many more talented women artists who are not known. It is therefore vital to acknowledge and direct attention to Zimbabwean women’s creative activities in the context of contemporary visual arts.
By wagering and claiming their space within contemporary post-colonial expressions of Zimbabwe, women artists are perpetuating the important centrality of their roles in determining and defining African culture.
The intricate details and buried meanings in their work is an excellent example of how the African female voice, which was for so long muzzled and mute, has been released and today offer intellectually stimulating discussions of our African society. It is imperative for Zimbabweans to celebrate the history and contribution made by these unique, talented and patriotic women.
Dr Tony Monda holds a PhD. in Art Theory and Philosophy and a DBA in Post-Colonial Heritage Studies. E-mail: tonym.MONDA@gmail.com
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