ZamArt Blog

1. FAKSON KULYA, Tribute to

2011-11-11T17:32:00.001+02:00

Zambia Virtual ArtGallery No 1: Tribute to Fakson Kulya. A brief and incomplete biography of Fakson Kulya, some reproductions ofhis work and some observations about his art.

Post by Gijsbert Witkamp

Note: More information aboutFakson is to appear in Zambia ArtChronicles, to be published soon on this blog. In that article a personalversion of our encounter.

Indeciding what or who should be the first of this blog serie labelled “ZambiaArt Gallery” I choose Fakson Kulya. I have two reasons for this choice. Onereason is personal and perhaps incidental. Fakson was the first Zambian artistI got to know in 1975 when I started my five year spell as fulltime artist inZambia. The other reason is neither personal nor incidental. Fakson, had hestill lived, today would be well in his sixties. He died around the year2000, literally out of sight, probably somewhere in the Luanshya country side. Heoriginated from there and was a Lamba by tribe.

Noneof us, his friends and co-workers in the second half of the seventies, knowsthe details and we only heard that he was dead long after he had been buried.Fakson, as a human being, does not deserve to “disappear without a trace” out of theZambian art scene.

Thesignificance of Fakson Kulya as an artist is acknowledged by his inclusion inthe ranks of artists with a dedicated page in the book “Art in Zambia” (2004) by Gabriel Ellison (extensively aided by theBook Publishing Committee of the National Zambia Visual Art Council).

Hewas a self-styled artist, a sculptor, graphic artist and painter. Most of hissculptures are in wood, but in 1975 he also tried bronze casting. His graphiccareer started in 1975 when he, prompted by me, became one of the foundingmembers of the Lusaka Artists Group. The following year Patrick Mweemba andDavid Chibwe joined and later on Style Kunda became a regular member. Themembers of the Lusaka Artists Group, in 1977 renamed the Zambia ArtistsAssociation, worked together at a studio at the Evelyn Hone College. The spacehad been made available by the College and the workshop was supported by the Art CentreFoundation.

Themembers, by working together in an accessible place became visible and known.The Lusaka art scene, in those days, was very small - we are talking about less then twenty people with a more than incidental professional productive involvement in the visual arts. The group, or its individual members, received smaller and larger commissions; working together helped to createa conducive and innovative atmosphere and a number of material problems (lack of art materials) were solved by processing locally available materials.

It was in this setting andperiod that Fakson could develop into a mature artist. He wascommissioned to make a relief in wood depicting the eagle which is a symbol forZambia on the Zambian flag.

The Sculptor. Linocut by Fakson S. Kulya. 25 x 19 cm. Not dated, but probably made around 1977. Fakson depicts himself working at the Evelyn Hone College studio from where the Lusaka Artists Group operated. He is sculpting the commissioned wood relief of the Zambian eagle for the House of Parliament.

He also was one of the artistswho did the mural paintings at the Longacre market. Several collectorscommissioned or bought medium sized wooden sculptures by him; usually done inmukwa; mostly about “traditional” themes of the mother and child type and executedin some sort of a conventional primitivism.

Sitting on a bad branch.Linocut by Fakson S. Kulya. 3/5. Size 12.5 x 23 cm. Not dated but probably madearound 1988. In the collection of G. Witkamp. This side of Fakson is inspired by folklore, his sense of humour and the bizarre.

Hismore original work was graphic or in paint. In these media it was easier for himto allow his at times bizarre imagination to directly express itself inpictures that often were fantastic, humoristic and rooted in folklore. Fakson,other than his academically trained colleagues circulating in the higher strataof society, is best described as a folk artist. These were his roots and thatwas his way of life. The blessings and curses of formal art education bypassed him.

In the eighties he returned toLuanshya rural. Town life was too hard for him. He continued, however, to makeart. By that time Lusaka had one permanent gallery. Its name was Mpapa ArtGallery. It at first was located at Chachacha Road and later moved to a finelocation, at Mwilwa Road, in the Rhodes Park area.

In the Gallery storeroom, in 1991 and1992, I found three paintings by Fakson, perhaps unsalable leftovers. Or deposited by him in search of a buyer. All ofthe same size, in the same medium and stylistically similar. I bought them andone part of this trilogy is represented below.

He now is king. Acrylic paint (of a funny kind) on cotton cloth. 90 x 75 cm. The painting probably was made towards the end of 1991 and perhaps has been inspired by the presidential elections of that year which ushered in multiparty democracy.

Faksonsurely was not a socialite. He is not remembered because of all the committeeshe was a member of, or because of his social networking skills. He was not a committee member and his social behaviour could be awkward. Hewas never nominated for any of the awards that presently are handed out by theNational Arts Council. People like Fakson are not important enough, their livesare too far removed from the artistic in-crowd. He does not rank amongst thebig names that dominate art in Zambia. But he was an original artist, making imageryhis own way. He did not try to please or provoke, to be fashionable orunfashionable. He just made pictures as he liked it; the way musicians likeShort Mazabuka, Green Mamba or Mashombe Blue Jeans make their music. Folkmusicof a syncretic kind, yet very Zambian. Fakson’s work is not contrived, it is honest and haslocality. It has zambianness about it– something hard to describe but you can feel it, coming from the heart.

Feel free to add on to this post aboutFakson Kulya. You can use the comment or e-mail options. If you have an image byhim that you feel should be in the Zambian Virtual National Art Collection - sent inas a comment or e-mail attachment.

Update: Website Launch & Introduction of Virtual Zambian Art Gallery

2011-11-09T16:18:00.000+02:00

1. Updateon Zambian art website launch

Itwas my intention to launch the www.zamart.orgin April 2011. We now are in November with the site leading a dormant existenceinside my computer rather than being publicly accessible.

Mainreasons for the delay are:

1. Poor affordable internet connectivitycoupled with rather pricy fast broadband.

2. I have been somewhat awed by thetechnicalities of doing the launching without some reassuring assistance of aperson in the know.

Ihave written before that I find the software needed generally & pertinentlyuser unfriendly; this applies to drupal 7, to filezilla, PHPmyadmin (the dbaseprogramme) as well as the instructions of the internet service provider (ISP).

Oneof these days I’ll go at it again, when it’s less hot and I am in a patientmood.

2. Introductionof Zambia Virtual Art Gallery

Inthis blog we shall create a series of posts all having the “Zambian ArtGallery” label. Each post shall minimally have a few pictures of art by Zambianartists, or art made in Zambia, or art about Zambia, or in some way relevant to artin development in Zambia. The pictures might be of by the same artist, orhave a thematic relationship being art work by different artists, or be ofinterest to the Zambian art scene by an interesting association.

Submissionscan be made by any visitor to the blog, provided no copyright regulations areviolated. Note that normally one is allowed to publish photographs of art work(like art reporters do), but you may not without consent reproduce the photomade by someone of a work of art. It is the photo that has the copyright inthis case, not the original art work to be reproduced as a photo. How thisworks if the original work of art itself is a photo is not clear to me. Gettingpermission in case of doubt is best.

Notethat the external submitter of visual material to be posted on this blog isfully responsible for the compliance with any applicable law or regulation.

Thefollowing information – to the extent available – should be provided with thephotograph: Title, artist, year of production, size (in cm or inches), medium,current location and current owner. If there is a story to tell about thepainting, do so.

Ifthe work is for sale indicate price and provide contact details. You may onlyoffer the work for sale if you are the owner of the work or his/her legitimateagent.

Note on resolution and size

Photographsor scans have a size (length x height) and a resolution. The resolution isnormally expressed as dots per inch (dpi) or pixels per inch. In electronicrepresentation size and resolution are related: increased resolution results ina smaller picture, decreased resolution results in a larger picture. In bothcases the number of bits stays the same. For Internet purposes a standardresolution of 72 is employed (horizontally and vertically). If you can, submit scansin jpeg format with a resolution of 72 and a longest side of maximally 800pixels. First adjust the resolution to 72 and next the size. If these thingsare beyond your grasp just email the picture (as an attachment or a comment tothe blog) but make sure it’s not over 1 Mb. 1 Mb is bad enough.

Exhibition by Peter Gustavus

2011-09-24T14:35:00.000+02:00

Dear viewer, also you can submit art events to this blog for publication, for example by using the comment button.

Zambian Musician Enock Mbongwe in Albert Hall

2011-08-03T12:25:00.005+02:00

Below text of e-mail message to THE POST.

Enock Mbongwe, kalumbu player, is probably the only Zambian musician ever to perform in the Albert Hall, London, UK. He did this on Saturday 23 July 2011, on invitation of the BBC.

SEE:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012r8c4

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012r8cv

Enock's trip was organised by Michael Baird, Netherlands based and Zambian born musician, producer and promoter of Zambian music.

SEE:

http://www.swp-records.com/Profiles/Michael%20Baird/

Apparently of the papers only the Daily Mail reported about this event, before it was to take place. Perhaps you may wish to inform your readers after the event that there are traditional musicians who make it on the international stage presenting authentic Zambian music. It also is encouraging to hear that there is more than rap that rolls in Zambian music.

Enock at Albert Hall during sound check.

Photo Michael Baird.

Exhibition Peter Gustavus at Choma Museum

2011-06-26T09:20:00.000+02:00

The Art Gallery of the Choma Museum and Crafts Centre presents as of 24 June 2011 an exhibition of paintings by German artist Peter Gustavus. The artist lives near Mazabuka and also is involved in intercultural education and exchange.

When at the CMCC premises you may also admire the brand new roof of the renovated building and its interestingly placed gutter down pipes.

In the beautiful garden you now find a restaurant where you can enjoy a pleasant lunch.

The exhibition is on for about 2 months.

Paid for

2011-04-10T19:38:00.000+02:00

In the previous blog I mentioned that I would only be assured that the arrangement with the web hosting company is sound and sure once billed for the service and having made payment in due course.

This now has happened. Payment was made. Meaning the domain name has been secured, and the site design once sufficiently ready can go up to the server.

To do this a couple of things are required.

1. To upload your site you need a password and a user name - in a way it's like sending an e-mail. These "keys" are sent by mail - based on information in a form you had submitted in a previous stage. That form did not allow for a P.O. Box address - which in Zambia is unpractical, or in any country that does not have home delivery of mail. Yes I told them and told them but to no avail! That IMPORTANT letter indeed was sent to my physical address. It did reach Choma alright and since people at the Choma Post Office know me it did land in my P.O. Box. My sincere thanks!

2. Uploading the site-design-as-it-is-in-computer requires FTP software. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. By means of such software you select files in your computer (of course the ones that capture your website) and transfer them into the appropriate directory of the web hosting agent = server. That is a chapter by itself, that job, but rest assured - the software is inside this little machine and I'll get it to work. This step entails a number of major secondary steps including on security issues - more on that once we get there.

What was that statement about small and big steps? In any case we are not on the moon - far from it, some 400,00 km's. Slowly indeed we are getting there.

It is hard to believe I started this thing only two months ago. What did I learn?

Somewhat impressionistic:

1. Artists and associated, like a great many professionals in Zambia, do not nearly get the benefit out of the Internet that they could.

2. The technical stuff of the IT business is remarkably intransigent to understanding, not because it is so difficult but because there is no systematic introduction into any subject. It is an esoteric scene, by us for us, in which heaps of knowledge is taken for granted including in the help menu's. Any grammar (book) will appear blissfully clear and orderly after trying to understand any IT manual.

Registration done

2011-03-31T19:09:00.001+02:00

It, at times, is difficult to know where you are in the internet business. If you want to have a website you need three things.

1. You need a webhost; that is, a company that puts your site up into the Internet.
2. You need to have a domain registered - this simply is the name of the site including the extension following the name. That, the extension, is the .com, or .org, or whatever dot is out there, on the market.
3. You agree on what could be called internet space, or the kind of volume you are going to use. The more you want, the more you pay. Since we are starters we do not want all that much.

I think we have 1, 2 & 3; and if I understand the conversations with the provider right I could put up a website - if only I knew how to do it.

Reminds me faintly of learning how to drive a car - in my case that happened about 35 years ago, when, I returning direction Lusaka having visited one at that time famous roadside tavern in the Chongwe area, had to take the wheel as the owner of the vehicle had passed out in blissful sleep. I am not advising anything of the sort to save money on car driving instructors.

That was a sideline.

The domain registration has been confirmed and the other stuff I only believe once I have been billed for it.

I opted for an Nl (=Netherlands) hosting company as for me its easy when it comes to bills, and there is a lot of experience in the Nl's on these services, and I speak their language; and they, or that company, being Dutch, are not going to run away from their responsibilities, provided you have paid. The last part of that sentence makes the billing issue so important to me. If I pay they have to perform some service, as arranged by contract. If I am not billed, and if billed have not paid, then there is no right to the desired service.

A nice company does some of the stuff upfront for you, in good trust; good trust meaning that it is assumed that you are a bona fide entity, and are going to do your thing as you should.

I have to leave this topic here - food is ready - but there are very interesting remarks to be made on this topic. Truly, to do business in the absense of some degree of justifiable trust is awkward, if not impossible.

To finish this of, the domain name has been confirmed and indeed it is http://www.zamart.org/

Up some time in April, I hope.

www.zamart in progress (1)

2011-03-22T18:43:00.002+02:00

Use the Archive and Label options on the sidebar to go to previous posts. Click on one of the pages under the pages slot to go to another page.

Page initiated: 22 Mar 2011

In the previous blog post One Month Down the Line I reported the successful download of the software necessary for website design.

The software I downloaded but installed in an operating manner (that was the real hitch, not the downloading as such) were two programmes called Apache and Drupal.

Apache enables you to see the site you are designing on screen without having to upload it to an Internet server (host). This allows you to work on your site-in-development without having to be online,a necessary operating condition when you work in an environment with poor info transfer speed (Kb/s).

Drupal is another open source software for IT purposes and specifically for website design serving the/a community. It truly is gratifying to note that the immense technological progress in computer and internet technologies has yielded products that are simply for the common good (hopefully, but in any case for common use), without having to purchase, lease or hire; and without conditions imposed on you, the user, which you may not feel happy about.

The availability of such software I would call progress and in the case of our venture it enables the setting up of the zamart website.

We are getting there, bit by bit. I am now working on the main menu – the tabs and associated pages that are at the top of the taxonomical structure that a website has. It mostly is good fun – but tomorrow is dedicated to farming.

The rainy season is coming to an end and this is the last chance to put trees in the ground that can root naturally, without irrigation. I am planting orange, mango, guava, coffee and lychee seedlings plus a few lychee marcots.

In any case this website, I presume, will be up & working way before these trees bear fruit………

Tribute Art Exhibition

2011-03-17T18:22:00.000+02:00

TRIBUTE ART EXHIBITION
@Henry Tayali Gallery
25th March, 2011.

From: Visual Arts Council <vac@zamnet.zm>
Sent: Thu, March 17, 2011 10:04:30 AM
Subject: Tribute Art Exhibition

Art Exhibition by & @ VAC, Showgrounds, Lusaka

One Month Down the Line

2011-03-17T13:46:00.002+02:00

Page initiated: 17 march 2011

About a month ago I launched the idea of setting up a website to be the Virtual Museum of Modern Zambian Art.

To promote and test the idea I started a Blog, some sort of mini-website. A Blog is particularly suited to record development in time focused on a theme or subject (the log part of it) and is particularly suited to solicit and receive content or comment from Blog visitors.

ZamArt Blog, as it is, gives you a bit of the taste of what a www.zamart.com website is going to look like; by having some of the pages the zamart site should have, a tiny bit of content, and the Internet communication facility (the Blog itself).

Responses have been sufficiently encouraging to carry on with this project. Non-response also has been significant and indicates underutilisation of Internet technology and communication, notably by artists.

Summary of Concept:

The projected zamart website is to have three main functions:

1. To be a virtual museum of modern Zambian art

2. To be an IT communication platform open to all interested in Zambian art

3. To be a market link in the buying and selling of art (and possibly quality crafts)

To get there presently the following is in motion:

a. ZamArt Blog development

b. Work on artists’ profiles (to appear as posts in the blog and facilitating online arrangement of Art for Sale)

c. Design of the ZamArt website

Website development:

During the past days (yes indeed, a protracted effort it was!), I have downloaded and installed, with a little help from my friends, website building software especially developed for community servicing purposes. And indeed, o wonder, today on this very screen before my eyes appeared the welcome message of the home page of the zamart site to be. You may ask yourself why I should torture myself with the pertinently obscure and intransigent matter (or is it non-matter?) that website building software is – should I not direct my energy and intelligence (or what is left of it....) towards an activity in which I can claim at least some proficiency and competence? My answer, based on long local experience, is that in our environment you must know what you are doing, even if you do not do it yourself. That is not to deny the need for a genuine IT professional. But to communicate with such a person requires some understanding of what (s)he is doing or is capable of. In the meantime, let us move on!

Once more I invite you to comment, react or contribute as you like to:

MAKE ART WORK

BUILD A MUSEUM WITHOUT WALLS OR BORDERS

Witkamp, Gijsbert

2011-03-01T22:42:00.005+02:00

Doc initiated : 1 Mar 2011

Last updated:

Born 1944, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

e-mail: mailto:zfactor@zamtel.zm

Education: Rietveld Academy of Art (art teachers diploma course), Amsterdam, Netherlands; University of Leiden, (MA cultural anthropology with specialisations in non-Western art and anthropology of sub-Sahara Africa) Leiden, Netherlands.

Main techniques practiced: drawing, painting, graphics (dry point and lino cut), murals (painting, mosaic), and batik stamp design.

Interest in art started spontaneously at secondary school at age of 12 when I discovered I could loose myself in the imagery I was making. Painting got me into another world, a world of sensations. My father (himself a good amateur artist and lecturer at a Teachers Training College) gave me a box of oil paints on my 12^th birthday (I can still smell the paint) and some years later took me with him for a visit at the Amsterdam Municipal Museum of Modern Art. (He spent most time with the modern classical masters, and I with the contemporaries). Those were the heydays and later days of “Abstract Art.”

1970 - 1975

After secondary A level school it was time to think about the practical issue of “making a living.” I enrolled for an art teaching diploma course, passed the exam and started to teach "art" at a junior high school. It brought just enough money in for bread and butter, and allowed me to continue to study and practice art. I did an evening course, at the local art school, in lithography (yes, on stone) and started to make dry points. I got a spacious studio (helped by the local cultural authority) and it had an etching and lithographic press. I also did some drawing and oil painting. I participated in the annual art fairs; festive social occasions where each artist could put his work on display (for free) on a market stall, facilitating access by a public that would shy formal exhibitions in awesome or exclusive places like museums and art galleries.

Another line of professional development was social. I had left behind the notion that the mission of art was to be a vehicle for “individual expression.” The transition, from personal functionality to social functionality, was a critical concern in my development at the time and its success or failure in my eyes meant being a professional or not. More precisely, there is nothing wrong with art being purely or in the first place “individual expression,” but the relevance of such work might be limited to the image producing individual. This approach becomes questionable when it comes to art destined to socially function, like art commissioned for public display. This kind of thinking also led me into issues of distribution of art in society, and as a producer prompted me into the graphic arts and murals. I did my practical in “art and society” by being a member of the Cultural Council of the provincial capital were I was living.

At the same time, in my twenties, I developed an interest in the technical/material aspect of making art. I started to read manuals on various art techniques and other documents (aided by the presence of a beautiful provincial library). Art technology is a fascinating world by itself, linking the scientific and the artistic; and going into it established the awareness that the non-material picture that is in your mind is an outcome of light reflected by a material object (“mediated by a learned system of interpretation”). It also brought in my mind the importance of “craftsmanship” to the fore; technical ability and skill, which in the 1960’s hardly featured in dominant, fashionable artistic ideology. These were the days of “spontaneous artistic expression,” art should have the purity and spontaneity of a child’s drawing; and in its practice the notion of craftsmanship and skill, of sound material construction and permanence, was of secondary importance, or even totally absent. The interest in art materials and techniques enabled me in 1969 to make on commission an 84 m2 outdoor mural with ethysilicate as a binder by preparing the paint in my studio. It was a technical adventure and most likely had not been done before in the Netherlands. Remarkably, while working on the scaffold, the queen and her entourage drove by.

1975 -1980

In December 1975 I said goodbye to my teaching job and in January 1976 packed my bag to travel mostly overland to Zambia. I arrived a couple of months later to face the challenge of making a living as an artist in a country which lacked much of the social infrastructure that makes (modern) art work. There was some of it, at the time (like the annual exhibition of the Art Centre Foundation, the art teachers diploma course at the Evelyn Hone College, some venues for temporary exhibitions, some patrons and even some practicing artists!), but an awful lot was not there. There was no artist organisation, no artist supply shop, no galleries or museums with accessible permanent collections, no art magazines and a whole bunch of other no’s. It was a very small scene.

The artists, roughly, could be divided into established and informal artists. The first group had respectable positions in society, was educated, professional, and included artists of both African and European origin. Aquila Simpasse and Henry Tayali were the main African players in this field. At the European side of it were people like Cynthia Zukas, Bente Lorenz and Gabriel Ellison. The “informal” artists had no or little formal art education, lived in compounds (or in the servant quarters of benefactors in the residential area’s). I started to look for these guys (indeed, they were all men), found a couple of them and set up early 1976 an organisation initially called the Lusaka Artists Group and later renamed the Zambia Artists Association. Founding members, apart from myself, were Fakson Kulya, Patrick Mweemba and David Chibwe, joined later by Style Kunda. I had realised that these artists, and myself as well, in order to get anywhere, had to work together and organise themselves. It worked, not in the least because we had become a prominent productive entity. We got a studio at the Evelyn Hone College, by arrangement of the Art Centre Foundation and support of the College itself. Cynthia Zukas furnished the studio with an etching / lino press. The core members and a varying number of peripheral artists worked in this space until 1981 when it all collapsed. The main line of production we developed was in graphic art, lino and wood cuts in particular. The reason was twofold: a) availability of (raw) materials and b) broader market access by the very nature of multiple reproduction. Also some painting was done including on walls, and some sculpture made.

As of 1977 my main art work was in ceramic mosaic. In that year I was commissioned by the Zambia National Building Society to do the mural on Society House, at Cairo Road. It is worthwhile to detail what happened and led to it. Society House, one of Zambia’s tallest buildings, prominently located at Cairo Road, Lusaka, was under construction and a provision was made for monumental art at the wall behind the ramp leading to the first floor. The commission firstly was given to Aquila Simpasse. Aquila was a brilliant draughtsman and painter, but without experience in monumental work and no technical understanding of such productions. He was supposed to make a concrete relief and the relief was to be made by using petrol to eat into big polystyrene foam sheets. The space created by petrol was to be filled by concrete, and the concrete was to be attached to the supporting wall. In such a technique you get all these bubbly shapes and predictably this venture had run into the ground. I went to visit Aquila and saw him depressed amidst a heap of these eaten into polystyrenes. Luckily he had gotten this far without fire - Aquila liked to smoke. He soon left for the UK to be a message man away from home. When I was approached by the architects of the building for this work I drafted a plan outlining several technical options. I advised against a concrete relief, having consulted a structural engineer, just because of its sheer weight and the complications of reliably supporting and mounting it. I favoured a mosaic mural, which, I said could be made of Zambian raw materials and did not require imported goods. The latter was a big issue in those days. Foreign exchange was scarce and hard to get. A truly Zambian mosaic it was to be. I had experience working at this scale (the mosaic was to be about 54 m2, smaller than my painted mural), I did not know a thing about pottery and mosaics. Bente Lorenz kindly lent me a book in Spanish with earthen ware pottery glazes in it, as used by the Moors in Spain a thousand years ago. Luckily the Evelyn Hone Library had a beautiful book by Michael Cardew titled Pioneer Pottery – inspired by his work in Nigeria. That book gave me in a general way the technical information I needed. Bente's book gave me the formula's of lead based glazes that could be made using litharge op the Kabwe mine. Luck or Provenance landed me with a small kiln, good enough to do the experimental work of body and glaze formulation. I produced a draft drawing of about 4.5 m2 and samples of a range of tiles and colours. The architect, contractor and commissioner went for it. To date the mosaic mural is still intact – last time I saw it not a single tile had come off. You don’t see its mostly bright earthy colours very clear as it never gets a wash, and the ceiling above it has not been equipped with electric light to illuminate the imagery, recessed behind the ramp. But from my point of view the work had been done, much of it during great turmoil and misery inflicted by Ian Smith and his supporters on Zambia. It was time to move on.

1980-1988

Moving on meant moving back to the Netherlands. I went back to school, again as a student, now at the University of Leiden were as of 1984 I also held junior teaching positions. My study focused on anthropology of sub-Sahara Africa and non-Western art. It was difficult at first but I became enticed by the academic environment. I studied art in a cross-cultural perspective but did little design work. I got my MA (cum laude) in 1988 – the distinction was earned by my research on makishi in North Western Province. Time to move on!

1988 – present

Moving on meant moving back to Zambia, now as a development worker engaged by the Netherlands Development Organisation SNV to establish a museum and crafts project. I was director of that project until November 1998 – by that time its name was the Choma Museum and Crafts Centre Trust Ltd. I continued to support the CMCC as consultant until April 2008. Relevant for the arts was the establishment of what once was a proper Art Gallery as part of the Museum activities.

As of around the year 2000 I started to design batik stamps. Most of these were carved by Patrick Mweemba. I designed about 150 stamps which were used in the Zamfactor textile workshop of my wife Nchimunya. Apart from that there was little art production. I did do a bit of art related consulting.

BUT: In February 2011 I rekindled the idea of setting up a Museum of Modern Zambian Art. I knew, indeed, that chances to establish a physical Zambian art museum were next to zero. But a virtual museum was possible, and, though a virtual museum cannot give you the full sensation of seeing the physical art object, by definition you only see a photographed copy on a screen, it can do all kinds of other things a conventional museum does not do. You can store all sorts of information and make it accessible to a visitor of the site, without any geographical boundaries: it is a MUSEUM WITHOUT WALLS. It’s just amazing. You may have discussions with fellow artists or any interested party using the Internet, using a blog or by chatting. You may plug interested parties into information they do not have by linking them to it, and provide links for visitors to artists and other players in the art world. And last but not least, you can promote and sell your art. So that is where I am now, if I am not doing a bit of farming, yes, onions have caught my interest – would it not be great to have a Cézanne like still life in celebration of l’onion.

"Made in Holland" 1974 mural of 12 x 8 m

"Crocodile"
Batik stamp on cloth 18 x 20 cm

Artists' Profile - Guidelines

2011-02-24T21:59:00.013+02:00

Want to change page? Click on pages, labels or archive in sidebar........

Doc initiated : 24 Feb 2011

Last updated: 18 Mar 2011

PURPOSE OF THIS POST is to assist artists wanting to have a page / post on this site to design and format such an entry.

YOU are at liberty to lay out the form/page as you please, but bear in mind the text that follows.

The draft submission, if necessary, shall be edited. An edited draft shall be re-sent to you for final adjustments and approval by you. When ready the form is published as a post on the ZamArt Blog. Visitors can access the post via the sidebar on the monitor screen by clicking on the page Art Players and from there on to your name, or by clicking Artists’ Profiles under Labels in the sidebar and from there move to your entry.

HOW to proceed?

1. The easiest way is to create a text on the computer. MS Word gives you the option, when starting a new document, to open it in blog format – that is what I am doing here. It is convenient but not necessary. When done, mail the document to zamfactor@gmail.com. Ask a friend to help you if you are computer illiterate

2. Bear in mind that it takes time to download your post. The heavier your post the longer it takes to download. Photographs are the main problem. For Internet publication you need a relatively low resolution (usually in jpeg format) and you also want a good quality picture. Start out with a good picture, either scanned or by digital camera. Standard web resolution is 72 pixels/inch. If you scan: scan photo/picture at this resolution. Save scan as a file. Check if it came out all right. Adjust/correct if necessary and if you can. Size on screen of your scanned picture depends on your screen resolution. For digital photo’s: select (if possible) a relatively small size (e.g., 640 x 480), load into your computer, adjust if necessary and send as e-mail. Send your pictures as mail attachments. As a general guideline keep your entry under 200 KB. That number is enough for 1 page of text having about 4 good quality pictures (in jpeg). And less is better, until the days when we shall have genuine broadband, affordable and for all. Picture size on Internet publication are easily adjusted and hence their "weight" as expressed in Kb's. Just make sure not to send excessively heavy mails by attaching pictures having a high resolution as required for printing. Internet is happy with the 72 dpi standard.

3. Read these guidelines and notes carefully before you start.
4. Need assistance? Mail to: zamfactor@gmail.com

GENERAL layout – but do go about it as you wish

Below are itemized elements that can go into the design of your profile. Items 1, 2 and 8 must be done. The others are optional, and you can add topics of your own. You may also add-on and modify later, following initial submission.

You can follow the numbered list below, or write your thing as a story (like: I am Samsom Phiri, I was born in Katete in 1958. I am a painter. I got into painting because at secondary school I did better in art &c.).

1. Your name is the title of your post (placed where in this post you read Artists’ Profile Format). Start with your surname, for example: PHIRI, Samson

2. Date the document and in the next line under write: last update: . This helps visitors to your post to assess information provided.

3. Contact me. Provide if you want, phone numbers (in international format, 00260-(0)xxx xxx xxx, and if you have and want, e-mail address(es). If you already are on the Internet somewhere, provide the link. Same for membership of social electronic networks as facebook or twitter. Update when necessary. Note that provision of internet addresses is not without risk and open to abuse.

4. Art Education. You may want to state formal art related education you have enjoyed (or been a victim of), major workshops you participated in, and perhaps apprenticeships or informal working with senior artists from whom you learned a lot.

5. Prizes and awards. You can mention these if you have been the lucky recipient, stating date, place, name of the award and award issuing organisation.

6. Membership of art organisations & social activities. You may want to mention art organisations you are a member of, especially if you have done some real work in there; and other social activity you are or were engaged in.

7. Publications. You may, if applicable, want to list publication of texts by your hand, or publications in which you feature. Note that there is an option of publishing on this site.

8. Main techniques practiced. Itemize techniques (“lines of production”) in which you do make art work. It would be nice to have photographic examples of each technique by your hand. Provide details of these works: title, year of production, technique, size. If you want also say where it is (in the collection of so and so, whatever the case may be) and add other information as you like. It would make sense to illustrate your technical competencies by what you consider to be your major works of art.

9. Main exhibitions. Itemize exhibitions where your work has been on display. Detail year and location, add what you want to add.

10. Art and me. You may want to write a brief story about your life as an artist and, by your choice, go into topics like: what got you into art; your best works; fellow artists that have influenced you; institutions or organisations that have supported you; what you think / feel you want to do as an artist; things that frustrate you and things that elevate you; what we can do to make art work better (in Zambia); or whatever it is you would like to say.

11. State Comment settings: allowed or not allowed. A comment is a reaction of a viewer to your post meant for publication, annexed to your post. See next section. The default is: do not allow comments.

Look at your page from the viewpoint of a visitor: try to get this person, unknown to you and to whom you almost mysteriously are electronically connected, interested in your art work. Do not be shy of a bit of self-promotion. Use this instrument to boost your reputation, sales, and electronic social network.

PUBLICATION, e-mail and Comments

Blogs are (mini)websites that have the option of response by a visitor. A comment is one such response, an e-mail another. Visitors can directly e-mail to you, the artist, in case you have provided the mail to: link in your post. They can make a comment (meant for Internet publication) if the comment option is turned on in the settings of your page / post. A submitted comment, if the comment option is allowed, is screened by the blog administrator, to avoid publication of malicious & other undesirable material. The comment, if passed, is published and can be accessed via the comment button at the bottom of your page screen.

ART selling artist

Artists offering their art for sale using the Art for Sale facility of this site should have their profile posted to allow interested parties to get to know the artist by a few clicks.

10 Days after Launch

2011-02-23T09:02:00.003+02:00

Click on pages, labels or archived blogs to get to other entries.

Doc initiated : 23 Feb 2011

Doc last updated:

What is the score? 10 days after broadcasting the VIRTUAL MUSEUM OF ZAMBIAN ART project & the launching of this blog to promote the virtual museum idea, facilitate public discussion and to demonstrate some of the features a fully fledged zamart website might have.

The good news is that there has been ZamArt-Blog development by adding pages and posts. There also has been public interest with about 10 page views daily since the blog became accessible.

The not-so-good news is that the number of received IT responses (by comment or e-mail) is low. There may also be not-received responses as I know of at least 1 comment that went astray. In any case, we have some work to do to justify the notion that this blog and its projected website successor are becoming an IT platform for matters concerning Zambian art.

What Next? We need a bit of an awareness campaign resulting in some sort of artists' awakening.

How? Well, frankly, the Virtual Museum plan has been sent to only a few of the many (potentially) interested parties. That was because of difficulty in getting e-mail addresses, I mean, operating addresses. It also might be that getting into the blog from a link in the mail does not work in some cases, you click (or press control + click-on-link), but no go. (In such event: copy link and post in web browser address window, check that you got the URL right: http://zamart.blogspot.com/ ). It was, by the way, frightening to see how many e-mail addresses were not working, meaning owners had not informed their contacts of change of address.

Looking at the low response level to date, I am reminded of something William Bwalya Miko (artist and director of Zambia’s most prestigious art gallery) wrote: "....during the last four decades very few steps have been taken by artists and the powers that be in the area of visual arts development in Zambia, particularly in terms of international exposure.” (In a photocopied / computer printout paper, titled “KUNDWE” OUT HERE!, distributed in 2005). It is perhaps not all that clear to what extent this statement reflects William’s mood at the time and “objective reality.” William in the same paper acknowledges good progress in a number of areas but his statement that ...."more effort is needed.” is surely true, independent of anybody’s mood of the day.

What else?

· A stand-alone page has been added labelled Publications. This page is to (a) have a bibliography of books and articles pertinent to Zambian art and document other forms of relevant information (including publications on Internet) and (b) facilitate publishing of and access to papers (as a post on this blog).

· Two stand-alone pages are presently in the making:

1: Players is to list parties (artists, organisations, writers & others) acting in past and present on the Zambian art scene. Each of the entities shall/may have its own post, which can be accessed from the Players page tab and by other routes located at the sidebar.

2: Art for Sale is a stand-alone page linking to individual posts in which art work can be offered for sale (by artists, art dealers or owners wanting to sell, and where sales promotion can be placed (by artists, art dealers or galleries)). This page shall have elements of online shopping in it, and shall enable interested parties to contact artists, art owners and galleries to acquire information and purchase directly from them.

· The Art for Sale page eventually is to be complemented by the Art Wanted page in which buyers looking for specific art can place their call.

And, most importantly: SHARE YOUR IDEAS BY POSTING A COMMENT OR SENDING AN E-MAIL! (and do save a copy for yourself in case of delivery failure).

Responses by E-mail & SMS

2011-02-17T12:26:00.010+02:00

Want to change page? Click on pages, labels or archive in sidebar........

page initiated : 17 February 2011
page last updated: 26 February 2011

Choosa Mweemba, (Lusaka based photographer, graphic designer & video editor) wrote 14.02.11 by e-mail:

I have read through your text on the art museum project. I believe it

is well overdue and now is a good time to embark on such a project as

Zambia is quickly moving into the digital age. More and more telecoms

companies are pushing for faster, more reliable and more affordable

connectivity options.

I am ready to help in whatever capacity my skills can be beneficial to

the project. Feel free to contact me for anything.

You can talk to Chosa Mweemba at: <chosa@fiahlink.com>

and see some of his work at: http://chosamweemba.blogspot.com

Ivo Herzig, Kalomo based IT expert, e-mailed 15.02.11:

I just speed-read the draft, and I think its a very interesting project. I'm not at all an

expert on art/art scene, but I think it is a very interesting topic.

Elisha Zulu, Lusaka based artist, emailed 23.02.11:

Thanks mr witkamp for your email. This too is a brilliant idea. I will read through and make my observations. Pls keep in touch

Flexon Mizinga, Historian and Executive Secretary of the National Museum Board e-mailed 24.02.11:

I have read your write up and the blog regarding the Virtue Museum of Art. This is an inovative idea which should be supported by all those interested in heritage management and interpretation.

I invite colleagues to post comments on this inovation. I know this is a new concept but this world is moving fast technogically and we need to catch up.

Keep it up Bert.

Patrick Mweemba, Choma based artist, e-mailed 25.02.11:

Bravo man bravo. We will support the website museum all the way. It
sounds a new idea but also a viable project. Patrick Mweemba.
Director CIZUNGU GRAPHICS

Why this Blog?

2011-02-16T22:56:00.006+02:00

Want to change page? Click on labels or archive in sidebar.......

doc initiated : 15 February 2011
last update : 19 February 2011

WHAT is a Blog?

You can compare a blog to a newspaper or magazine: a blog has a publisher (often also the editor, administrator and main author) and a facility to receive and publish responses from viewers / visitors. There are at least five main differences with conventionally printed communication media:

A conventional paper once published has its information fixed in permanent matter. Information on a blog can be edited or added on to at any time (provided the blog is activated and you are connected).
The paper or magazine in its public form is a genuine material object, it is truly an objective embodiment of information. The blog is virtual reality - it just exists on your screen as information (information = a difference that makes a difference, as Gregory Bateson said, quite some time back, at the beginning of the cybernetic revolution. A difference, by itself, has no matter). You can "capture" the virtual reality of the blog you are plugged into - or one of its pages - as it is at a particular point in time in material form by printing it out. You can also electronically save it, for later retrieval and processing.
It usually is easy for a blog viewer to immediately submit a response in the form of a comment meant to be published or in the form of an e-mail which may or may not be intended to be published. This feature promotes in principle a high degree of active involvement of the viewership, or, at least, opens up such possibilities. A viewer can respond to information provided by a blog any time and from any place (provided there is Internet connection) and send a response or forward information easily to any place / receiver (having Internet connection).
Setting up a blog, in a technical sense is easy and requires very little equipment or capital. This stands in great contrast to the expense and complicated technology of conventional publishing. To do a blog you only need a computer, a working Internet connection, an account with a Internet provider (both for your Internet connection and the host of your blog), a manageable amount of technical skill, motivation and time.
Access to the blog (to receive, disperse or submit information) is free (though getting connected to the Internet usually does have a cost).

These features combined make a blog very suited for the "broadcasting" and recording of ongoing processes and actions, their documentation, dissemination, and associated public debate and comment.

A blog is a fine example of a product of the most recent, now firmly established revolution in the development of mankind: electronic communication.

WHY a ZamArt-Blog?

The amazing thing is: to date, or better, hopefully, up to to date we do not have anything that we could call an IT platform for the (visual) arts.

It really is amazing. It is not that hard to do and once you have it you can visit the site or blog every once-in-a-while and bring up or possibly bring down something you want to bring up or down.

Talk publicly to people, fellow artists, supporters, art interested folks and organisations.

Yes, the idea beyond this blog idea is to set up a Virtual Museum of Zambian Art proper. But just a blog already is a good thing. We've got to start somewhere......keeping the site in sight.

HOW to Contribute?

You can participate passively by viewing posted entries.

You can participate actively by:

Submitting comment(s)
Submitting posts (entries) for publication
E-mailing art related suggestions, ideas or other information which may or may not be published as by your instructions (to zamfactor@gmail.com)
Propose measures to improve ZamArt-Blog functionality
Forwarding ZamArt-Blog posts to interested parties, spreading the viewership

RULES for External Contribution by Comments or Postings

Rules for external contributions and contributors are laid down in the policy page. In summary:

Anyone is free to submit comments or posts on (Zambian) art related topics BUT:
Publication is at the discretion of the Blog administrator
The administrator may abbreviate or edit text. The administrator shall communicate with the author of the edited text and seek consent for publication before publication.
External contributors must ensure that copyright laws and regulations are observed and are solely responsible for such adherence.
External contributors are responsible for submitted content, the administrator for its proper publication.

VIRTUAL MUSEUM OF ZAMBIAN ART (1)

2011-02-16T09:48:00.008+02:00

Want to change page? Click on pages, labels or archive in sidebar........

The text below serves to gauge interest in the proposed virtual Zambian art museum and to solicit ideas for its development. I believe that in Zambia IT is underutilised and a better use of Internet to some extent can make up for the current lack of a physical national art museum or gallery, the lack of (accessible) art related information or documentation, and poor interaction between art interested parties. You are cordially invited to post your comments on this blog and/or to zfactor@zamtel.zm or zamfactor@gmail.com (and do save what you want to say on your electronic device: just in case it does not come through - you need to be heard!).

PROJECT IDEA:

ESTABLISHMENT OF A VIRTUAL MUSEUM OF ZAMBIAN ART

www.zamartmuseum.com

by Gijsbert Witkamp*

doc initiated : 14 Feb 2011

doc updated : 1 Mar 2011

1. Purpose of text

The text below serves to gauge interest within Zambia and beyond for the establishment of the or a Virtual Museum of Zambian Art. By “art” I mean in the first place and initially modern visual art in Zambia. I’ll refer to the proposed museum as www.zamartmuseum.

Substantial interest in Zambia is essential for such a project to succeed. Primary parties are the artists themselves and their organisations; NGO’s and charities supporting art development in Zambia; museums active in modern art collecting, preserving and exhibiting; educational institutions or facilities having art departments or courses; patrons of the arts and private collectors; gallery owners; students, writers and journalists of Zambian art – in short all those who have a deep and sincere interest in making and contributing to the development of Zambian art.

Substantial interest beyond Zambia could take the form of support to establish the project. The nature of such support shall depend on Zambian interest in the project, and capabilities to manage and sustain it.

2. Purpose of project

The purpose of the project is to develop and establish a virtual museum of Zambian modern art. A virtual museum is a museum constructed as a website. The functions / objectives of such a website are outlined below.

It is relevant, in this regard, to note that there is no physical museum of (visual) art in Zambia to date. Equally relevant is that we have few Zambian websites dedicated to Zambian art. One is the Insaka International Artists Workshop website, at www.artshost.org/insaka, last updated 26^th July 2004. This site is/was affiliated with the Visual Arts Council of Zambia and has/had its office at Rockston Studio, Lusaka. Rockston itself has a well designed website including online shopping, see www.artshost.org/rockston; but I could not find a single date stamp anywhere in the site and the e-mail facility does not seem to work well.

3. What is www.zamartmuseum to do?

Physical museums, in theory, have a number of basic functions (such as preservation, conservation, documentation, presentation, exhibition, education and research). In practice a museum may concentrate on some of the above functions (rather than all of them) and possibly have others attached to it.

The core function of a virtual museum is the gathering and storage of information and the provision of a channel to access such information. The type of information depends on the type of museum. Nowadays physical museums have developed and are developing virtual museums that allow the site visitor to, for example, make a museum tour or access a collection. (Try Google for this and you’ll see where we are going). Virtual museums may also incorporate interactive (educational) programmes and have special facilities for communication (social networks) about museum related topics.

What would we expect a virtual Zambian art museum to do? The site, in any case, should:

a. Document:

a.1. Art work (in Zambia or out of Zambia by artists having worked in Zambia)

a.2. Artists (working or having worked in Zambia)

a.3. Art organisations and institutions

b. Be a platform for publications:

b.1. On Zambian art, art events and art history

b.2. Have a bibliography and references of published and unpublished material

c. Inform and educate:

c.1. Have selected information readily accessible to site visitors

c.2. Have virtual exhibitions as by slide shows, PowerPoint presentations and video’s

c.3. Have interactive educational programmes

d. Announcements:

d.1. Exhibitions

d.2. Other events / news

e. Facilitate contacts:

e.1. Provide addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, websites, Blogs, and social networks of art interested parties.

f. Facilitate sales:

f.1. Of art by an online art shop

f.2. By referring interested parties to individual artists, art organisations and galleries

f.3. By advertising (art, art materials, publications, art related services)

g. Facilitate and stimulate debate:

g.1. The site should be associated to a social network and/or Blog for public debate, exchange of views or information on current events and topics.

h. Develop a strong income generating section:

h.1. The site might “rent out” dedicated pages to individual artists and art interested parties.

h.2. Charge a fee for services provided under (f).

h.3. Produce and distribute cd’s with informative and educational material.

h.4. Produce and distribute cd’s and perhaps dvd’s for professional documentation of art objects and art processes.

i. Be both artistic tool and product

i.1. The site must be well designed and creatively used.

4. Pro’s, Contra’s and Conditions

There are a number of clear advantages in setting up a www.zamartmuseum:

1. It to some degree makes up for the current lack of a Zambian national art museum or gallery by making art information available.

2. The cost of managing the site is only a fraction of the cost of running a physical museum. Once established site maintenance is relatively cheap.

3. Global promotion of Zambian art, independent of location of the visitor.

4. Flexibility: easy to add on, change or to remove.

5. Development and site servicing can be done from any place having adequate connection.

6. Possibility of interactive programmes and communication.

7. Possibility of extending art education in schools.

8. Unprecedented possibilities of participation and involvement by interested parties by provision of an Internet platform.

Disadvantages are or might be:

1. Slow transmission obstructs full use of facility.

1.1. This a crucial issue. It may be necessary to have a “light” version especially of the imagery.

2. Constant need to update site content. Danger of lax site management.

Conditions:

1. Have the right people to do the job.

2. Adequate internal and external support.

3. Inbuilt drive to make the project self sustaining.

5. Some practical notes and ideas

Status of organisation:

The project can be managed as a private enterprise, by a dedicated organisation established for that purpose (NGO type) or as an (autonomous) unit of a relevant, existing organisation.

Organisation:

Executive team must have advanced IT/website design skills; art historian competences, excellent writing, management and income generating capacities. If the organisation is to have a Board key players must be represented in it.

If the project idea catches on the best would be to put a small founding / working committee into place of key supporting / contributing parties or individuals.

Procedure:

This typically is a project that can start on a low budget to build up to a point where convincingly external support can be applied for and raised.

Initial needs:

1. Equipment: Excellent camera and scanner; website software, image processing software, 1 laptop, 1 desktop, 1 external hard drive, 2 printers.

2. Office furniture, fittings and fixtures

3. Accommodation (office + studio)

4. Transport / vehicle

5. Technical competences

*********

* The author of this text and initiator of this project has worked in Zambia as an artist; artist’s organiser; anthropological researcher of art; museum and crafts project manager; international development expert; and consultant for NGO’s in museum and crafts development, marketing and income generation.