NGZ on public sale of uncollected art work

Standard People
THE National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo is running a public sale of all uncollected artwork in their storage from today until May 31.

BY SHARON SIBINDI

THE National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo is running a public sale of all uncollected artwork in their storage from today until May 31.

The sale will be open from 10 am to 4 pm daily and prices range from US$5 to US$30 for paintings and sculptures.

NGZ in Bulawayo director Butholezwe Nyathi told NewsDay Life & Style that the gallery has been keeping some artworks submitted to exhibitions and never collected when the exhibition closes.

“The gallery after each and every exhibition keeps temporary works of art that were on show and were not sold to the general public. There is a defined period under which we should keep those works. So when artists stay long without collecting them, we run out of space, so that is what we have encountered,” he said.

Nyathi said the selling the artefacts as a means of clearing space in their temporary storage facilities has happened before because they are not meant to keep works in perpetuity.

“We had advised artists that are able to collect their works to do so between May 5 to 14, however the rest contractually, we are  at liberty to sell them to the members of the public at  subsidised rates because it’s not about profit making, but clearing the temporary collection,” he said.

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