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Owen
Maseko and Gukurahundi
John Eppel
April 05, 2010
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One of the charges
against Zimbabwe-s brilliant visual artist, Owen Maseko, is
that his forcibly closed exhibition at the Bulawayo Art Gallery
offended a particular ethnic group. The ethnic group that he allegedly
offended are the Shona people. The subject of Maseko-s exhibition
is Gukurahundi, during which a particular ethnic group was massacred
in their thousands. These were the Ndebele people, and they were
massacred by the Fifth Brigade who answered to "nobody but
Mugabe," and who were almost entirely Shona soldiers. It-s
one thing being offensive, entirely another being genocidal. Maseko
is a satirical artist, kindly satirical (Horatian) in his colourful
depictions of township life, viciously satirical (Juvenalian) in
his bleak depictions of government oppression. No person belonging
to the Shona ethnic group should be offended by this exhibition,
unless he or she is in denial of those terrible events in Matabeleland
and Midlands, which began with Mugabe-s exhortations to the
Fifth Brigade, resplendent in their red berets, to "plough
and reconstruct." This sinister mixed-metaphor is echoed in
the word, "gukurahundi", which literally means "the
rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains".
Here-s another irony: the report which exposed ZANU PF-s
intentions in Matabeleland in the 80s was compiled by yet another
ethnic group, one sardonically described by Mugabe as "Blair-s
kith and kin".
Those who
would rather the events of the 1980s remain shrouded in secrecy
[read Yvonne Veras-s novel, The Stone Virgins, where mixed-metaphors
abound] will claim that discussing them will reopen old wounds.
However, it was clear during the interviewing procedure that,
for thousands of people, these wounds have never healed: people
still suffer today [1997], physically, psychologically, and practically,
as a result of what they experienced in the 1980s. Far from "reopening"
old wounds, the victims- being allowed to speak out and
having their stories validated by a non-judgmental audience has
begun what is hoped will be a healing process, after more than
10 years of people suffering in fear and isolation.
It is now 27
years since Gukurahundi, and when, at last, someone has the courage,
the moral conviction, to speak out, he is arrested, imprisoned in
a filthy overcrowded cell, and charged under POSA
for inciting disrespect of the president, inciting violence, and
offending a particular ethnic group, race or religion. Owen Maseko
is a young man, too young, possibly, to have any conscious memory
of Gukurahundi, but he grew up among those who witnessed or were
victims of the atrocities, and he is part of the collective memory
of a people who have, if not died socially and emotionally, become
paralysed.
The academic,
Brilliant Mhlanga, was not too young to witness Fifth Brigade atrocities.
Here is as an account of what happened to one of his relatives,
from his essay: "On the psychology of oppression: blame me
on history!"
This time
a betting game was hastily arranged. Two soldiers moved the motion
that the foetus in her womb was male, while the other two argued
that it was a girl. This argument continued for about five minutes.
They each produced 10 cents and gave it to an adjudicator who
then ordered that her womb be ripped open to prove which group
was right. Eventually she died of excessive bleeding and pain.
The foetus too, later succumbed.
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