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The
eye of the people
Stephen Garan’anga, African Colours
April 23, 2007
http://zimbabwe.africancolours.net/content/12251
  "The
Eye of the People" is the title of the current one man show
of contemporary paintings by Lovemore Kambudzi that has just opened
at Gallery Delta in Harare. Rewarded with numerous awards both at
home and internationally’ including the Commonwealth Foundation
Art Award in 2003 for his work, the young dynamic and one of the
most prolific contemporary artists around has no less than 40 exhibitions
to his name at the age of 25. He has had a couple residency programs
in New Zealand, Germany, Scotland and Holland and this is what he
said for his current show.
"My paintings,
in different ways, reflect the concerns of human rights and social
justice. This is interpreted broadly in some of the works that have
positive, joyful images, for example: 'Greenwood Park, 2006,' and
'Ghetto Fabulous 2007.' Others reflect celebrations such as 'Wedding
Anniversary, 2006' and 'Topemberera, 2006' just to mention a few.
But then there are the depressing ones, some of which appear political
but I have really been painting what I have been through and what
I see in Zimbabwe everyday.
All my adult
life I have been observing the life of the people in my home town
of Mbare, a very poor suburb of Harare. So I paint the people living
among rubbles after their lives had been changed for the worse by
the so called 'Operation Clean Up Trash', e.g. 'Results of Murambatsvina
2006.' These works reflect the suffering of the people of Zimbabwe:
in public hospitals, the citizens are not being treated properly
because the doctors and nurses are on strike for better pay. All
the problems have made the situation almost unbearable for ordinary
people, forcing them to turn to corrupt activities, such as that
depicted in 'Amakorokoza Gold Panners' which has resulted in land
degradation. My paintings are through the eye of the people: 'Ziso
harina muganhu.' I cannot hide the truth."
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