BY GRANT MOYO
A public art and creative direction collective, CaliGraph, is on the verge of completing the Bulawayo phase of its nationwide mural project themed Hanzvadzi, Umnawami, #GirlPowerZW in acknowledgement of the selected eight inspirational women that hail from the city who have immensely contributed to the development of the arts, culture, sports and business sectors in Zimbabwe.
Working in collaboration with Culture Fund, European Union, Nash Paints, Baobab Media and Skeyi & Strobo, the art collective is painting murals in public spaces to promote dialogue and conversations on sex education, positive affirmations, girl empowerment, and celebrating the social, economic and cultural achievements of women within the communities of Harare, Bulawayo and Chitungwiza.
Founded in 2018 by visual artists, Bulawayo-born Marcus Zvinavashe and Harare-born Nyasha Jeche, who met at Chinhoyi University of Technology, CaliGraph’s work is centred on addressing societal themes guided by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Driven by the need to see themselves participate in the development of societies and communities, the art collective is inspired by how people love to see their communities transform and how art is used as a representation of culture.
Besides partnering with the National Gallery in Bulawayo on a goal-oriented project involving people painting their thoughts on experiences with gender-based violence at Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo 2019, CaliGraph has worked with the British Council, Pepfar, British Embassy, Jibilika and fashion entrepreneur Chenesai Mangoma on her ‘Fashion Futures’ project.
“When we paint a mural in a community, it’s not just a group of artists painting. We engage people from the community we are painting in. We invite them to have a conversation, to ask them questions, to understand them and to paint with us. This is engagement, because we need to place a mural that carries messages, lessons or questions that people must not forget, hence we invite them to paint with us,” Zvinavashe said.
Impelled to tell real-life stories the best it can, on the ongoing mural project in Bulawayo, CaliGraph sought to celebrate women of power listing broadcaster Soneni Gwizi, musical artiste Sandra Ndebele, veteran actress Sarah Mpofu-Sibanda, seasoned mbira musician and singer Busi Ncube, actress and TV presenter Mbo Mahocs, singer-songwriter and music producer Berita, Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) marketing and corporate communications manager Stella Nkomo, as well as youth activist Mantate Mlotshwa. The art collective has also had the latter female icons share positive messages to people who look up to them. Accustomed to involvement, CaliGraph has made the participation of some of the city’s finest visual artists and community engagement compulsory.
“This project started last October with public consultations and focus group meetings. These conversations were on the role parents, older brothers, sisters and the community play in educating young girls about sex, empowering them and how the education is delivered at home. From what we gathered and experienced growing up, sex education is a taboo topic in the home set-up and it is often left to be taught at school or from experience which is much dangerous. This project came about after realising that some of our young sisters are not well informed about their strength and potential they possess,” Jeche said.
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Having completed most of the murals of the female icons in various locations in Bulawayo, Zvinavashe stressed that they saw the need and value of celebrating the female icons while they are still alive and also have them share inspirational messages that uplift communities and motivate the young generation. Jeche compared the importance of the project to his personal relationship with his younger sister. He pointed out that the messages that are being put across are a reminder of how he is fond of her.
The free-spoken artist admitted that he does not want to see his sister being taken advantage of for sex in exchange of gadgets, money or clothes. Taking note of the increase in cases of teen pregnancies in the country, he does not want her to be pregnant as a teenager. The artist described the world as a place of greatness in which he wants his sister to know what power and strength she possesses, her path and place in this world, and make informed decisions for herself.
Self-motivated by the motto ‘We are the youth, we want our voices to be heard’, CaliGraph has completed painting murals of Berita, Mbo Mahocs, Sarah Mpofu-Sibanda, Soneni Gwizi, and Mantate Mlotshwa which all have motivational messages that seek to bring out the best in communities. Mlotshwa acknowledges that her message to young people is centred around the basic fact that everything they believe about themselves is what they become. While Gwizi ascribes her well-thought- out message to the advice she got from her late mother who constantly told her that she should be proud of her disability and not think any less of herself.
“A great part of what I’ve become and continue to grow into is a result of what I believed of myself and my capabilities. When you see yourself as talented and gorgeous, breaking generational curses, being the first in your family, community, city, or country, you put in the work that makes you great because you know you are setting the standard and pace for others,” Mlotshwa said.
“Growing up, my late mother told me I could achieve anything I want because I’m not different from any other girl. She made me believe in myself. I therefore pass the same message to everyone with different disabilities. I encourage them not to be ashamed of themselves. I urge them to be proud of who they are. To live their lives to the fullest, dream and enjoy being themselves,” Gwizi said.
Working in communities has allowed CaliGraph to be in a position to collect grassroots research through open conversations and to impact through placing strong visuals as well as imagery that people relate to, and in a language they understand.
Re-imagining spaces and giving them a new meaning and function, influences the shift to new ways of thinking through education using murals and public engagement.
