Be You Exhibition

Scores of people from all walks of life attended the “Be You Exhibition” on June 23, 2018. “Be You”  is a collaborative exhibition organized by Kuumba Arts Trust in conjunction with Impact Hub Harare to tell the stories that shape who we are through art.

The artwork spoke volumes. From the masterpiece painting of a young determined boy, reading through the night with only a dim light of a burning wax candle illuminating the velvet blackness that bathed the room, to the beautiful painting of a woman whose brain was a blooming jacaranda tree.

We asked fellow artists what they thought about the significance of art in their lives and we were taken aback by one of the responses. “Art and love are the same thing: It’s the process of seeing yourself in things that are not you. Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time and it washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life”, one artist replied.

To complement the fine art, was performing artist Victor Chimusoro popularly known as  Gwenyarimba and his group. They played and danced to the rhythmic music of the marimba and hosho. Their music which gave an  African feel to the day. Children milled about the Impact Hub Harare garden, painting, playing and learning about the beauty of art. In response to the children’s engagement. Nqobizitha Nyakunu stated: I think all children are artists, the problem is learning to grow with the talent.

We ate burgers and drank Masamba Kombucha , a probiotic health drink  made by a local company. The children were treated to some great entertainment, playing interactive games on the Oculus Virtual Reality kit and enjoying face to face chat with some of the popular artists.

The Zimbabwe Robotics Team was also presently supporting the event and working on their robot which is going to compete at a global competition this coming August. s

The event enabled people from all walks of life to witness the beauty of art, inspired multitudes of people in the community to want to take part in the social landscape of their country using their imagination and connected thousands through the establishment of new networks for collaboration in areas that may or may not have been art related. Most importantly, the day proved the point: “Local is Lekker!”