The Choma Museum Art Gallery
Electronic Newsletter no 4
28 July 2013
Edited by Bert Witkamp
1 COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION
The Choma Museum e-mail address is: chomamuseum@gmail.com.
Mail to that address will be read by Mwimanji N. Chellah, executive director of
the CMCC. Peggy Himoonde, public relations officer, is in charge of the Art Gallery. For information about
the forthcoming CM Art Gallery exhibition you may also contact Bert Witkamp at zamfactor@gmail.com. The
Choma Museum Art Gallery website is: chomamuseumartgallery.weebly.com. The site is small but keeps you updated about what is happening in the gallery. It gets visited about 5-10 times daily – pretty much the same as the average
physical visits of the gallery. This newsletter is also published on the art gallery website.
2. HOW COME THE
GRAPHIC ART OF ZAMBIA EXHIBITION IS NOT YET ON?
One
outcome of the impromptu elevation of Choma to provincial capital of Southern
Province was a frantic search for offices of provincial departments that were
threatened with severe sanctions – their chief officeholders that is – if they
continued to dillydally about their forced move from the fine historical town
of Livingstone to nondescript Choma 180 km up the road. One outcome of the
frantic search for offices in Choma was a letter written by the neighbour of
the Choma Museum telling its director to move the Choma Museum out of the
building, the former Beit Boarding School for Girls dating back to 1927, and to
do so within 14 days as of the date of writing of the ominous letter.
In most countries it is unusual to
demand that a museum moves out of its accommodation within a fortnight, even if
the demander is the legitimate landlord - which is not the case here. It was
also wrong in principle as the entire building had been renovated by the Netherlands
government in the understanding that one part would serve the District
Education Office and the other the museum and crafts project now named the
Choma Museum and Crafts Centre Trust Ltd. You can find the historical details –
we are talking 1987 to 1993 - in the relevant post of the ZamArt blog.
Remarkably the director of the CMCC
and me were in Lusaka at the time when the matter was reaching a climax. I was
in Lusaka to collect art work for the Graphic
Art of Zambia exhibition, both from a private collection and from artists.
The CMCC director, M.N. Chellah, was in Lusaka to appear for the parliamentary
committee dealing with museums. It provided him with an excellent opportunity to
defend the Choma Museum position and accommodation. The friends I was staying
with are long time supporters of the CMCC and they also alarmed and mobilised
parties to stave off the eviction of one of the two private museums in Zambia out
of the accommodation it had paid for in full.
The matter, by the way, landed on
facebook including a facebook group called BaTonga of Zambia. Some of their
members were willing to take to the streets in defence of “their museum.” And
indeed their museum it is, and of others as well! (In passing I note that Zambian
museums should come to understand that they also are in the 21st
century; and should use the means at hand of our time and age; and Internet is
in the forefront of them).
Thanks all of you for support and
encouragement!
Though these matters caused a lot of
excitement in an otherwise rather dull museum existence they negatively
impacted on planned activities and especially the Graphic Art of Zambia exhibition. Things got delayed. Chances were
slim that the Choma Museum neighbours would carry their lunch boxes to the art
gallery room and throw its art works out on the streets, yet this was not really
a conducive atmosphere to do all the things that need to be done to get an
exhibition up and into place. Apparently the situation cooled – the how’s and what’s
still are shrouded in mystery – and therefore preparations have resumed. See
below at 4 for more.
3
CURRENT EXHIBITION: WOMEN IN ART – art by or about
women
 |
| Nachisungu. Print by Lutanda |
The exhibition opened March 2nd
and has been extended to the beginning of August for reasons stated above. The number
of recorded visitors to date is about 900 – a number that should rise in the
future, with better publicity and museum sign posting. Sales to date are in the order of K 9,000. Unfortunately visitors often need
to insist to see the exhibition as they might find the gallery doors closed due to lack of staff attendance, a circumstance also obstructing sales.
4 EXHIBITION
“GRAPHIC ART OF ZAMBIA.”
 |
| Gossiping women. Woodcut by Tayali. |
As mentioned above preparations for this major exhibition
have resumed - the opening now tentatively
is scheduled for 10 August 2013, depending on availability of GoH. On display: drawings (ink or pencil) and
prints of Zambian artists and artists working in Zambia. With work by: David
Chibwe, Fakson Kulya, William Miko, Lutanda Mwamba, Bert Witkamp, Patrick
Mweemba, Peter Gustavus, Cynthia Zukas, Agnes Buya Yombwe, Jonathan Leya, Henry
Tayali, Patrick Mumba and Aquila Simpasse. Work on display is submitted by
artists and private collections. The CMCC managed to secure a bit of financial support from local banks - consoling thought after recently having myteriously lost Kr at a local ATM. I am busy framing and mounting pictures and the accompanying
leaflet is well under way. Rest assured the exhibition will be great, stressing
the initiators and founders of printmaking in Zambia and their worthy successors.
5 MID AND LONG TERM PLAN FOR ART GALLERY
In a previous newsletter I mentioned that it is
time to come up with a Practical Plan for the Choma Museum Art Gallery; a plan
that has vision, is feasible, inspired and inspiring, of this time and age,
puts the gallery on solid economic ground, and of course: MAKES ART WORK. In
fact, there has been no reaction to this – perhaps yet another signal that it
is time that also museums in Zambia should realize that they are in the 21st
century and should start using the means available to them. I mean the Internet
– and that does not cost money. All that is required is the desire to do so; a mindset that is up to date and updated. You
can set up a website for free and the technical knowledge to do so can easily
be mastered by a secondary school kid.
Note: You are welcome to notify art events for posting on the
Choma Museum Art Gallery website or ZamArt Blog by using any of the e-mail addresses
above.
