Let it be known, that as the vow to nurture, protect, and elevate the Zimbabwean girl child to uncharted heights takes form nationwide, the Art world is devoted to the diligent activation of its role in the matter.
BY AMANDA BADZE
As female artists of all backgrounds are beginning to emerge and offer their varying unheard perspectives, the nation is made more whole in the encountering of such novel expressions of individual truths.
June 11, 2015, First Floor Gallery Harare opened a solo exhibition, “Eve’s Diaries,” featuring young, female painter, Mavis Tauzeni. Viewers were met with the thrilling, thought provoking works of Mavis.
“I paint because that is how I feel I can best express myself and also get my voice heard, or in this case, seen.” Mavis says in her coming of age experience as a female in Zimbabwe, she spent a great deal of time contemplating the varying and numerous issues that directly affected her attempts at self identification. Painting professionally for 6 years, Mavis has found herself focusing the subject of her paintings on ideas involving girl children and women alike, particularly those ideas which are considered to be taboo and, as a result, left ‘undecided’ amongst many Zimbabwean women as well as women in general.
Tauzeni tackles the issue of the risk women face in this era, of living entire lives operating in ways which are defined by external forces of limited insight. Behaving, thinking, and expressing one’s self in a limited range of ways in order to honor societal definitions and expectations of one’s image, risks stripping women of their basic, human license to create who, what, and why – they are.
Tauzeni expresses gratitude and acknowledges the lasting effect that her Artist experience has had on her. It has placed her on a continuous path of unapologetic questioning and foreword movement through the myriad of perspectives offered by the contemplations of such questions.
Tauzeni is grateful to be making strides in her career, though admits that the journey to achieving a voice of influence is not a fearless one, but rather, a journey anchored in courage, and abundant in the unwavering devotion to honor the perspective which she has survived in order to hold, – and ultimately release. “Eve’s Diaries” is showing from June 11, 2015 – July 28, 2015 at First Floor Gallery Harare.
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For more about Mavis Tauzeni and First Floor Gallery Harare, please visit www.facebook.com/firstfloorgalleryharare For more about AMA please visit www.facebook.com/AMABEYOND
