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Josiah Bob Taundi's gallery of images inspired by Operation Murambatsvina
February 09, 2006

Read the interview with Josiah Bob Taundi - includes audio files

Copyright rests with the author. No unauthorised use of these images. For further enquiries please consult the artist by writing to jbtaundi@yahoo.com

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

Title: Day Of Reckoning Medium: Poster colour on paper Unframed size: 93 x 73 cm

This is a home industry scenario in the ghettoes, a noble small to medium enterprises idea used to empower youths economically. That is where you find urban legends like "Vote for whomever" and political parties' T-shirts typical of urban walls and wear, respectively, in Zimbabwe today. Somehow we have become an election-based country. However, authorities also knocked down these centres of empowerment during Operation Murambatsvina never mind the fact that they paid taxes to council and government. Effectively whether one was the typical "indigenous businessman" typified by Westminster formal wear or belonging to the political protagonists Zanu PF or MDC you all faced the same end: out of business

Title: The Wait Medium: Poster colour on paper Unframed size: 67 x 48 cm

Waiting for the bus, kombi, waiting for payday, waiting to draw cash from the bank, waiting for sugar, bread, waiting for service, waiting for bills, waiting for political change, waiting for salvation, waiting for God. Waiting. Waiting for something to happen, of its own accord. No action, just waiting, patiently.

Title: Relief Medium: Poster colour on paper Unframed size: 93 x 73 cm

Refugee camps such as Caledonia and Helensvale, which sprung up as a result of Government's Operation Murambatsvina, inspired this piece. They were places of suffering beyond measure, unnecessary in the first place. No food, no running water, no sanitary facilities, no shelter, no health care, no income, no love - nothing. It was a human catastrophe, a national shame. That was until humanitarian organisations chipped in. Suddenly there were tents, medical supplies, food rations, blankets and all other basics. It was relief at last, but for how long? The multilateral and donor agencies that government want people to believe are part of our problem became the solution itself. They gave our people some dignity that had been taken away by our own Government. But no matter what, the Big Brother was always there watching who was doing or saying what.

Title: Water Crisis Medium: Pastel on paper Unframed size: 50 x 36 cm

Women of burden are no longer a rustic sight. It is today's urban reality. No water for days, weeks and months. The authorities blame what they like. One time it is high demand, high evaporation, people abusing water, burst pipes and recently in Harare it was a one metre sludge mass that had accumulated over five years because no one remembered to clean the reservoirs. That is the same story for virtually every basic amenity. There was a cholera outbreak in Harare more than six months after the so-called Clean Up exercise! We have become a nation that lets infrastructure run until it fails while we look for scapegoats. It is as if God will one day crash down in all His Mighty and set things right while we just sit and blame.

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