Several distinguished visual artists in Zimbabwe were recently honoured by the European Union (EU) at an awards ceremony held at Gallery Delta during the launch and opening of the Tradition, Family and Religion exhibition.
The event held last week attracted 104 artists who produced 200 works and 92 works from 68 artists were selected for the exhibition.
Amongst those who were honoured include Masimba Hwati one of the well–known names in visual art circles in the country.
Hwati walked away with a prize in the multimedia award through a brilliant artistic presentation of his piece titled Cosmopolitan.
Hwati has emerged as one of the many talented ceramic artists whose work revolves around objects that do not only catch the eye, but also strive to give meaning to various unexplored themes.
Most of his works and private collections have been auctioned in Botswana, Zambia and France. Munyaradzi Magorosa’s The Village Bull won the prize for the best painting while Wallen Mapondera’s piece Ladders to the Sky was judged the best graphics work.
Speaking during the launch, the Head of the EU Delegation to Zimbabwe Ambassador Aldo Dell’Ariccia said the EU is impressed with the level of artistic talent on display in the country.
“We are quite impressed with artistic display of talent of art and culture in the country. Culture is at the heart of the African-European dialogue and therefore we perceive it as a space of dialogue and partnership.
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“Thefore, EU is proud to announce that we are working on increasing our support to Zimbabwean art and culture in the next two years”, he said. Director of Gallery Delta, Derek Huggins, expressed his gratitude to the EU for their continued support to local art in general and exhibitions in particular.
“I am humbled to work affiliated to the EU and we extend our sincere gratitude to this organisation for their support to the arts and mainly through exhibitions”, said Huggins.
The focus of the support being offered by EU is aimed on improving artists and encouraging them to acquire new skills through exchange programmes.
This network is also designed to expand and become self-sustaining with associated partnership form various organisations in the arts sector.
The Tradition, Family and Religion exhibition is currently under way at Delta Gallery and will run up until July 18.
