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More Exciting Books in the Modzi Library! - thanks to our former resident artist Klaus HartmanN

7/7/2022

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During my time as an artist in residence, I came to know and appreciate the work of Modzi Arts. Modzi Arts brought together and networked Zambian artists with me. I was very surprised by the quality of Zambian art, friendships developed during my stay and connections to partner institutes were established.

We now work together on different levels and adding to their library is particularly important to me. With the support of the Liebelt Foundation we were able to acquire a basic stock of books. The book selection reflects the variety of Modzi Community interests. Modzi Arts does not see itself exclusively as a place for contemporary art. It defines itself as a space for art and culture. The books were selected with this in mind. Topics are African literature and theatre, Zamrock music and art history, independence movement but also books about spirit possession, rituals and cultural history.

It is a place for multicultural international exchange. Observing the other, the stranger and the unknown, learning from other cultures is a core component and meaning of international artist residencies. The books give an insight into the art of different cultures and contexts, e.g. Zamrock, Asian art, art of the Caribbean, European art history, the history of modern art, contemporary art in a global context, comic and arts theory.

I like the idea of bringing the two Modzi libraries, tool library and book library, together in a common space. Sharing tools, equipment and knowledge is the basis of the Modzi community and is vital to building a Home for the Arts in Zambia.

By: Klaus Hartmann

Thank you to everyone that supported Klaus Hartmann, Liebelt Foundation, Alex Hoehne, Liberatha Alibalio, Rebecca Corey and Nafasi Art Space.
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BUILDING THE CRACKS

4/12/2022

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Rebuilding THe Modzi Arts Art Space

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Since its inception in 2016, Modzi Arts’ main goal has been to be a space for creatives of multiple displays to flock, be inspired, and guide each other on their respective creative journeys. It aimed to promote Zambian art history to the Zambian people in a way that allows them to build upon their ancestral heritage to create while not forgetting their roots. Additionally, promoting Zambian art to the art world at large. These ambitious goals made it so Modzi Arts would inevitably outgrow the space of its humbler beginnings. This created the need to move into a space that would allow for Modzi’s growing community of multi-disciplinary creatives to work comfortably in the Modzi space.
 
Modzi Arts moved into the Ibex Hill space in the spring of 2018. The move to the Ibex Hill space was out of a sense of vulnerability, as Modzi had creative differences with their previous landlord. This was the catalyst for Modzi’s new endeavour; finding a new space to facilitate their creative needs.  Modzi had no intention of permanently settling, especially considering the building's architecture was old-fashioned having been built in the late 70s. Foresight would tell them this would be an inhibiting force when the Modzi space would continue to grow beyond the spaces’ capacity. Additionally, It had become decrepit after being vacant for 2 years, meaning it was in need of constant repair. Constantly needing to seal cracks and repair pipes.
 
Modzi searched for bigger and more resilient spaces to relocate to in Lusaka during 2018. Admittedly, Modzi was still in its adolescent stage of growth during this time, making issues like rent strenuous on the fairly new NGOs budget. This put Modzi in a precarious position; How would they proceed in a way that would be most conducive to Modzi’s future?
 
When considering the future of Modzi in terms of sustaining pre-existing Modzi, the idea of completely demolishing the Ibex Hill building space in order to create a bigger, more efficient and modern space came to mind. Considering they would pay the same amount of rent, Demolition and reconstruction would have been more economical in the long term. However, the space was built by one the of board members' grandmother, Josina Kaunda, this meant Modzi would have to build a relationship with the board members family in order to obtain a long-term lease. Concurrently, the idea of demolition would actively conflict with one of Modzi Arts’ core values; Creating in a way that builds upon ancestral heritage so as to not forget one's roots.
 
Modzi came to a reasonable compromise between upholding one of their core values and needing a more spacious yet rugged space. It would simply work with and and around the existing structure. In truth, it was easier said than done, with the guidance of licensed architect Adrian (Berlin) and Jeff Banda (Zambia) relaying what was and wasn't possible with the idea of the compromise, budget, and time in mind.

​It was this conflict that inspired building the cracks. Building in a way that accommodates the old while adapting to the times.
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"Zambian Gallery A Rainmaker For the Nations Talent"

3/4/2022

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"Zambian Gallery A Rainmaker For The Nation's Talent" was a recent article by CHAZE MATAKALA about Modzi's participation in the Fnb Joburg art fair in 2021, which showcased the works of Zambian artists Aaron Samuel Mulenga and Mapopa Hussein Manda.

It's evident to see why the Zambian urban arts writer, cultural worker and production consultant; Chaze Matakala wrote this piece capturing the Zambian art scene through the eyes of spiritually intune Zambian artist Aaron Samuel Mulenga, and established politically satirical Zambian artist Mapopa Hussein Manda. Chaze shares a similar goal as the aforementioned artists to document and seamlessly weave cultural stories long forgotten and buried.

An example of this is Recounter, a solo debut exhibition exploring the external architecture of Lozi culture. The exhibition is materialized through a visual poem of self love and a collection of photographs taken from the western province of Zambia and the Western Cape of South Africa.

Her website, Decolonial Daydreams ushers to the forefront a beautifully laid out ongoing archive of cultural resistance, as well as puts a spotlight on the work of fellow creatives.You can read more about the writer @New Frame, a not-for-profit, social justice media publication based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
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Searching for patterns of resemblance in parallel: Aaron Samuel Mulenga and Mapopa Hussein Manda in the FNB Art Joburg 2021 - By Barnabas Ticha Muvhuti

2/8/2022

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Mapopa Hussein Manda, The 1960 Murder of Lillian Burton, 2021. Acrylic on canvas, 120 x 100 cm
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Aaron Samuel Muleng. Afronaut Jojo, 2021. Fabric Acrylic on Hessian, 100 x 125 cm
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Aaron Samuel Mulenga, Welcome Home KK, 2021.Sculpture Handkerchief with Hessian on wooden plinth, 13 x 9 x 8 cm
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Mapopa Hussein Manda, The Zambian Last Supper, 2021. Acrylic on canvas, 150 x 300 cm
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Mapopa Hussein Manda, Hope and Extinction, 2021. Acrylic on Chitenge and Hessian, 258 x256 cm
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Aaron Samuel Mulenga, The Proletariat ,ca.2021. Sculpture Worker’s helmet with wooden plinth, 12 x 7 x 9 cm
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Mapopa Hussein Manda, Dead Aid, 2021. Acrylic on canvas, 100 x 120 cm
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Mapopa Hussein Manda, Bend Down Boutique ‘Salaula’, 2021. Acrylic on canvas, 100 x 120cm
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Aaron Samuel Mulenga, Sanga Ishiwi Yobe, 2021. Megaphone on wooden plinth, 12 x 20 x 14 cm
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Aaron SamueI Mulenga, I Can’t Breathe, 2021. Sculpture, Gasmask with Burlap on wooden plinth. 12 x 13 x 7 cm

Modzi Gallery at Fnb Art Joburg 2021 has been supported by Pro Helvetia Johannesburg funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)

"In the end I discovered a show making bold social commentary – speaking to the past, the contemporary and the future of Zambia, if not Africa." - Barnabas Ticha Muvhuti on an untitled exhibition with works of Aaron Samuel Mulenga and Mapopa Hussein Manda

While viewing Modzi Gallery’s exhibition in the FNB Art Joburg 2021, showcasing the work of Aaron Samuel Mulenga and Mapopa Hussein Manda, I found myself drifting and wandering in search of points of intersection and divergence. Evident at first glimpse were parallel themes like the politics of climate change and ancestry punctuated by a marked difference in materiality, styles, and symbolism in the untitled show. Yet I understood that pairing two artists in a show or juxtaposing their work generates dialogue, if not multiple ones. As such, I appropriate the title of this essay from writer Rebecca Solnit’s In Praise of the Meander (1), an essay I have engaged with whenever my mind oscillates ‘back and forth’ in pursuit of a linear narrative. Reflecting on it always licenses me to wonder, even go wild in my waking dream, searching for common elements. In the end I discovered a show making bold social commentary – speaking to the past, the contemporary and the future of Zambia, if not Africa. The beauty of not assigning a title to a show is that it frees art from the burden of ‘meaning’ and gives viewers the liberty to interpret it however they want. (2)

Both Mulenga and Manda revisit the nation’s archives referencing selected events. In The 1960 Murder of Lilian Burton, a portraiture painting collaged with newsprints, Manda highlights the harrowing May 8, 1960, incident in which a white housewife and her kids had their car doused in petrol and set alight by a mob in Ndola. Depicted in the portraits are John Chanda, Robin Kamima, Edward Creta Ngebe, and James Paikani Phiri, fou UNIP (3) members who were tried for allegedly masterminding the attack, in what is considered the longest and most costly trial in the legal history of Northern Rhodesia. The incident strengthened the settlers’ resolve to consolidate power, yet also intensified the nationalists’ fight for self-determination.(4) In his analyses of ochlocracy, novelist and critic Teju Cole states that mobs, characterized by their quickness, do arise out of a crises.(5) It is that context Manda does not want Zambia to forget, as well as the strange fact that on her deathbed, Lilian did not want the Rhodesians to avenge her death.

Although Afronaut Jojo and Afronaut Chintelelwe are Afrofuturistic works asserting Black liberation and aspiration, in them Mulenga also references the 1964 Zambian Space Program initiated by Edward Festus Mukuka Nkoloso, a man who seemingly had a vision well ahead of his time and that of a nation whose citizens questioned his sanity at the time. “When certain people speak others listen, as long as they are not the marginalized,” exclaimed Mulenga. Nkoloso was not deterred by those who thought his was mere wishful thinking, declaring instead, “But I’ll be laughing the day I plant Zambia’s flag on the moon.” (6) The artist also wants us to engage with the seemingly disparate objects he incorporates in the frames, mostly drawn from the “witchcraft sections” of anthropology and ethnographic museums. For how long the European knowledge system will continue to vulgarize masks and other objects originating from Africa is a matter that troubles Mulenga.

​Zambia recently lost its first president Kenneth Kaunda, considered one of Africa’s great statesmen. Both artists memorialize him in interesting ways. In Welcome Home KK, Mulenga uses a mask borrowed from the Chokwe ethnic group, marked with the icingelyengele symbol. Most notable in the work is a replica white mouchoir, symbolizing the late former president’s trademark handkerchief. According to the artist, “KK has had great moments for the nation of Zambia, and for the continent of Africa too. So, I saw it befitting to pay tribute to him.” It was while in Mbala, an area of rich histories and natural beauty in northern Zambia, that Mulenga seriously thought about the subject of the ancestors of the land and conceptualized the work. By passing Kaunda transcended to become one of them.

​In The Zambian Last Supper, Manda draws inspiration from Leonardo Da Vinci’s iconic work to also pay tribute to a leader who served the nation of Zambia with distinction. “The idea came seeing that KK was quite advanced in age and the inevitable would happen. I asked myself how I would immortalize him?” explains Manda. In the portrait, the artist includes all of Zambia’s past presidents, and the incumbent, and a few key liberation heroes, with Kaunda occupying center stage. The portraits of the leaders are collaged with headlines from the nation’s newspapers. The food and drinks on the table are not random. They either depict the nicknames for some of the leaders or the lavish lifestyles they were known for. The work is an embodiment of postcolonial Zambia’s history seen through the nation’s presidium, yet it invites the viewers to reflect and laugh at some of the flaws in the characters that have occupied the nation’s highest office over the years. Filled with humour and biting social commentary, Manda’s work compares better to a work of the same title by Uganda’s Paul Ndema. (7)

The two artists also engage with various key contemporary issues in interesting ways. In Hope and Extinction, Manda takes on environmental issues. The artist, who is a member of Extinction Rebellion which is a global environmental movement using nonviolent means to compel governments to tackle causes of climate change, sees it befitting to use Zambia as the launchpad for his contribution to the noble campaign. The nation has witnessed the destruction of arable land and pollution of underground water systems through abandoned mine dumps on the Copperbelt. “Contrary to what capitalists think, mines are detrimental to society. Zambians deal with the toxic waste emanating from the detritus of mines,” asserts Manda. The timing of the work could not be greater, with the just ended 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference – COP26, exposing some of the leading global powers for being out of touch with the threat climate change poses to humanity. For Africa, the threat is immediate. Also speaking to the idea of standing up and acting is Mulenga’s Sanga Ishiwi Yobe, which translates to ‘Find Your Voice’. The artist calls the youths on the continent to stand their ground and participate in the formulation of the decisions that determine their future. In the recent presidential elections, the youths of Zambia did that and made sure the election was not rigged or stolen from them.

Employing found materials in the form of a mask and an industrial helmet in The Proletariat, Mulenga pays tribute to the Black workers in different trades. The work is the artist’s way of celebrating Black success, which mostly comes through toiling. “Always remember, we are our ancestors’ wildest dreams. Our grandparents and parents have been through a lot to put us where we are, sometimes with no food to eat. They paved the way. So, we just cannot sit on our laurels,” says Mulenga. Perhaps, there is a serious dialectic pursuit when one juxtaposes Mulenga’s work with Manda’s Dead Aid, which engages the emotive matter of western aid and its effects on the developing nations. Manda perceives western aid as “a neo-colonial agenda to keep the developing world from realizing actual development.” In the work, lying on the ground is a woman possibly swooned by poverty. In the backdrop is a message derived from Banksy: “Follow Your Dreams: Cancelled”. I invoke the name of Dambisa Moyo, Zambia’s famous writer on the subject. The artist thinks she could perhaps do more if she was not the poster-girl of the west.

In the same way western aid has destroyed Africans’ industrious abilities, the importation of second-hand clothes from the east has destroyed the local manufacturing industry. This is the narrative depicted by the artist in Bend Down Boutique ‘Salaula’. “Some buyers dress as masquerades to try and hide themselves from the public gaze,” says Manda. ‘Salaulas’ are places where some customers manage to fish out the latest fashion and sports labels as well. In well-functioning economies, governments would impose protectionist policies to ward off external competition for the local industries. However, this is not the case in most African countries characterized by high levels of unemployment, with an underpaid civil service.

Mulenga’s I Can’t Breathe engages with the condition of precarity Black lives are subjected to throughout the world. In the USA, the experiences of the Black subject are not a secret anymore. Blacks who have endured the perilous journey from the motherland to Europe find themselves on the fringes of society. Even on the continent, the typical postcolonial government is not friendly to its Black subjects. Even when read as signifying the moment we are currently in – the time of the pandemic – it is the Black subject that has endured the most in many parts of the world.

Besides the identified themes above, there are other aspects to consider in this exhibition. The materials the artists employ in executing their ideas are worth discussing too. Mulenga has developed a repertoire of using hessian, and the icingelyengele symbol, which he has discussed before. (8) As such I asked him about the mask. “It comes from the Chokwe people found in Zambia, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Although I acquired the masks in this work from the market, that does not make them less authentic. This is something I would want the audiences to interrogate.” Likewise, Manda draws my attention to the reclaimed wood he uses, especially for the works that engage environmental matters. “Certain subject matter demands certain materials,” the artist states. His use of newsprints in the collages can also be read as a way of upcycling.

Again, the big lesson from Rebecca Solnit is that it is alright to meander when not certain, for structures do take many forms. I see this body of work highlighting past legacies, engaging with current contentious issues, and speaking to the future of Zambia, Africa and the world. However, as Teju Cole asserts, “… in discovering all that can be known about a work of art, what cannot be known is honored even more.” (9) I admit there could be a blind spot in my interrogation, knowledge, and understanding of the work. Like any other, this exhibition can be read in many ways.


References

1. Rebecca Solnit. ‘In Praise of the Meander’. Literature Hub: https://lithub.com/in-praise-of-the-meander-rebecca-solnit-on-letting-nonfiction-narrative-find-itsown-way/
2. Athi Mongezeleli Joja. ‘Gallery Momo: No titles enable your own take’. Mail & Guardian: https://mg.co.za/article/2015-01-08-no-titles-enable-your-own-take/
3. The United National Independence Party liberated and ruled Zambia at independence in 1964.
4. Walima T. Kalusa. 2011. ‘The Killing of Lilian Margaret Burton and Black and White Nationalisms in Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) in the 1960s’. Journal of
Southern African Studies 37:01, 63-77, DOI: 10.1080/03057070.2011.552544
5. Teju Cole. ‘Perplexed… Perplexed’: On Mob Justice in Nigeria. The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/10/perplexed-perplexedon-mob-justice-in-nigeria/264006/
6. Namwali Serpell. ‘The Zambian ‘Afronaut’ who Wanted to Join the Space Race’. The New Yoker: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-zambianafronaut-who-wanted-to-join-the-space-race
7. David Trigg. 2021. “Paul Ndema”, in African Artists From 1882 to Now. London and New York: Phaidon Press Limited.
8. Barnabas Ticha Muvhuti. 2020. ‘Aaron Samuel Mulenga: The Power of Black Art and Representation’ Sugarcane Magazine: https://sugarcanemag.com/2020/06/aaron-samuel-mulenga-the-power-of-black-art-and-representation/
9. Teju Cole. ‘Shadows in São Paulo’. New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/23/magazine/shadows-in-sao-paulo.html

​• All images provided by Ba Taonga Julia Kaseka, the Director/Curator at Modzi Arts
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• Barnabas Ticha Muvhuti is an arts writer based in Cape Town, a Research Assistant at the Zeitz MOCAA museum, and a Ph.D. candidate in Art History in the NRF SARChI Chair program in Geopolitics and the Arts of Africa, at the University Currently Known As Rhodes.
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The Modzi Arts Residency; A Truly Inspiring Experience!

6/28/2021

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An insight into Liberatha Alibalio's Residency at Modzi Arts May - June 2021
1. Process and experience so far at Modzi
My experience here at Modzi, so far it has been amazing, I have been adapting progressively and now I feel connected to the space. The atmosphere and materials resonate with my work and ideas.
 
It has been a blessing to connect with the artists within Lusaka aswell as out of Lusaka. The locals remind me that we are all one no matter where we are geographically located.

2. Space at Modzi Arts and how it inspires me.
Being at Modzi has showed me how much space in mind and time I need to be in a creative environment. As it's my first individual residency I had no idea on how it would work and being in a place far from home just for the purpose of creating and connecting has been amazing and is a celebration of my creativity in its early stage.
 
Coming into this residency, I had no specific structural plan on how everything should be and the flexibility in that is what is exciting for me, I wanted to embody my creativity into the ancestral movements, migrations and the result that came out of that which is us, me today.
 
The space has collaborated to my creativity well as I have been experimenting and dyeing the cotton fabrics I came with from Tanzania with the plants, mud and rusted metals that I found a pile of here at Modzi.
 
The beauty of being able to utilise the available things around and getting more exciting results to work on the next piece, has been my fuel. It has most of all taught me the practice of low effort but high mindfulness and consciousness in a space.

3. Interests so far as a residency.
I search for my ancestral footprints, I came with the idea that as BANTU we share a lot in terms of culture, history, humanism and our ways of being and existing. I have been amazed by what we have in common, from language, food, thought, consciousness and different aspects of our social being. This has helped in some perspectives that I was using to understand my own roots, am no longer looking at my identity or culture or tribe or clan as an island but as a hybrid. My work becomes a result of mixes of my thoughts and interaction between materials and people here in Zambia and in Tanzania.
 
Being able to connect with the art scene in Zambia and Modzi artists has been magical, I never imagined how much my thoughts would be inspired, I have been lucky to meet and experience the artists practice for example Daut Makala, the multimedia artist mostly working on metal sculpture installations, prints and painting, we have had a lot of conversation on art and he often grasped ideas that came when he saw my work. Those who have also added valuable thoughts to my way of thinking, include the Modzi artists Mapopa Manda, Tamara, Alvin, Lawrence, and all that I have interacted with, they have been so kind and with great mind so we could pull out random conversations that were elevating and connecting us.
 
Above all my work is not far from myself, I use my work as a tool to better and understand myself as social being, I embody my work with my life and am learning to embody my life with my work. Hence the life and how I have been connecting and socializing here is existing in my work, the inspiration came from defining my ancestors here and living a social life here like being able to learn a few Nyanja language phrases and being able to conversate with a woman and kids who sells vegetables on our street outside the Modzi compound has been a joy for me. I think and see their faces when they answer "Bwino, Muli Bwanji?" back to me before I ask "Nizingati maonions..." back to me, this has been my joy especially in our now fast growing cities where greetings tend to be expensive than iPhones.
 
Also the amazing moments shared with Julia, and in the Modzi house in general has been a refresher like a delicious dinner after a long day of working in the studio and co-cheffing with Julia and her family and Klaus Hartman, the guest artist whose food empowered my dreams and his paintings in the studio on my way to my studio always inspiring and makes me think of the beauty of seeing as we travel.
 
Modzi has been a blessing, as a human who is navigating through life,  the space has hosted and my mind and soul well,  I have been so mindful, at peace and reflective here. I hope there is more I can do for the space, connect more and work together in a near future.
 
Zikomo!
Liberatha Alibalio

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SOUND OF UBUNTU

12/23/2020

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My name is Mumba Yachi. I am an artist musician and have been doing music for over 20 years now. I play guitar, write songs and sing. I was glad to be Modzi Arts’ participating artist in the Sound of Ubuntu collaboration project that Modzi had with Moto Republik of Zimbabwe. I got to work with Monkey Nuts, a contemporary Zimbabwean music band.

I loved the project theme of Ubuntu. I understand Ubuntu to be the African spirit of togetherness in social life and humanism. In African culture and tradition, we believe that someone’s child in a village is a child of the village. Therefore, this means that I cannot let my neighbour’s children suffer. If or when I see them in trouble, I help them like they are my own. That is ubuntu. I believe that Ubuntu is a gift we have as Africans from God, to look up to and take care of each other as one. And so, I was really excited about the project, because it brought out ubuntu in itself. We were coming together to share in the commonality of our cultural heritage through a universal language called music. This project shows to me that actually there are no boarders.

We spent 3 weeks exchanging ideas, sampling music of the 70’s from both countries and experimenting on how we could blend it with what we know and do now. Participating in the project left me with great new knowledge in my art. For example, it was for the first time that I got to see and understand how sampling is done- something I had always heard of but never actually experienced. The biggest take away musically was expanding my knowledge of Zimbabwean music from the 70’s. I learnt of how Zimbabwean musicians of that era were quite experimental. They played with sounds from as far as Cuba, America and England and fused all such influence with the Zimbabwean sound element. It was nice also to interrogate and share with my Zimbabwean counterparts on Paul Ngozi’s music. Ngozi is a key figure  in understanding Zambian music of the 70s. Ngozi’s music was music of the people, depicting what happens in everyday society. His style was mostly rock fusion with Zambian Kalindula. His live band component made his music timeless as it lives on several years after his death.  They say “the voice of the people is the voice of God.” Paul Ngozi spoke of the people and that is why he is the legend he is.

I feel humbled and blessed to work with Modzi on this project. It was both informative and fun.

Mumba Yachi
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WHAT IS "ART FARM"

10/27/2020

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​Art farming is a concept that I created in the year 2015 upon graduating from the fifth edition of the Asiko Art School that was held in Maputo, Mozambique. It was during a one on one conversation with the founder and director of Asiko Art School, Olabisi Silva that I coined the concept of art farming. This came about as a result of her emphasis on the need for artists to explore further the artisanal side of their practice so that they can have a sustainable way of living.
 
The emphasis of art farming is to forge an artistic farming way of life that is based on a scientific organic, experimental and creative approach towards art and farming using all the elements of the environment in a given location. Even though my Art farming project is still in its infancy my goal is to one day have an art farming residency project where I will be helping artists to establish farms as well as gardens in their various studio spaces as sustainable way of living.
 
All in all, it must be noted that farming is indeed an art because it always gives way at every point for the farmer to create from his vision and put into practice what he envisions. 
 
Best of regards,
 
Mapopa Hussein Manda,
 
Freelance visual artist, 
 
A member of the Zambia national visual arts council.
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THE BIRTH OF MODZI KITCHEN

10/12/2020

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Artist Mapopa Hussein Manda hard at work, constructing vegetable beds.

Cooking & feeding local artists and their families in the Modzi Kitchen
Corona Virus has severely affected the arts industry in Zambia, threatening closure of art spaces and challenging artists’ livelihoods. As a result, Modzi Arts has been facing difficulties within programing and operations, which all contribute towards the sustainable structures of the organization.

For the last seven months Modzi has been supporting artists with accommodation within the Modzi house and work space. We closed the space to the public but kept it open to artists, especially those in need. By keeping the space open for artists in need, we have been able to support some of our beneficiaries by being a home in such difficult times. Artists have kept coming into the space either for ideas, discussion, food or shelter.

Luckily, we have had funding from the amazing organization In Place of War. This funding has allowed Modzi to cook lunches or dinners (traditional local foods) and feed artists and their families.  From this, the Modzi Kitchen has been born! This is a place of rethinking the idea of community, fostering dependability/Ubuntu amongst each other in the art industry during hard times.

In order to make the Modzi Kitchen sustainable on a long term basis, a food garden is being created by local artist Mapopa Hussein Manda as part of the Art Farming Residency. Food is being grown by the very community that comes to use the space and together we become producers of Ubuntu.
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MODZI RESIDENCY | Interview with Matt Kayem

4/29/2020

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According to your profile you call yourself a multidisciplinary artist, can you share what that means in modern day Kampala?
Well… A multidisciplinary artist is simply an artist who works in different media and also in different fields or areas within the visual arts. So in this case, a multidisciplinary artist in Kampala – there are several of them; There’s artists like Xenson and people like Stacey. Stacey works in photography, she has done painting before, not any more. She’s done a couple of things, installation as well. Xenson has done almost everything from fashion to photography to painting to installations to poetry, he’s very much multidisciplinary. Personally, I work in painting, collage painting. I work in sculpture, installation, photography, I want to do performance in future. Ya, that’s it.
 
What is your approach to preparing for your work and why did you choose this form of art?
My approach is quite simple, I work mostly in my head, I do a lot of thinking about a particular artwork, whenever I have an idea I think about it more opposed to sketching. I do a little sketching and writing but I think about it over a period of time, months. When it goes past a couple of months, it goes past a year or something then the idea will be lost and I’ll move into something else. When I think of a particular idea for a couple of months before I execute it, I then write a little, look on the internet. And then when I get down to executing the idea, it’s only like maybe two days or three days or a week, a work of art is born. And for the form of art I do, I’d like to say that I didn’t choose to do whatever I do, it chose me. But also, I’ve developed over a gradual period of time to select what’s best for me. I’m very much inquisitive, I’ve tried to move around, the place in the Ugandan context; galleries, to get to know several artists, get to know those outside of my circles, the east African art scene… Get to know the international African scene… And think about how I can fit in. So it takes some time for an artist to really figure out what you want to choose. It’s a combination of so many other things.
 
Why did you want to take part in the Modzi Residency program? And how do you see African residency programs being beneficial to artists especially in such times?
So I first met the director of Modzi Arts, Julia Taonga when she was back in Kampala. That was about two years ago and then I took her around with a team from Modzi Arts: Edward Kiss and Gita Herrmann. I took them around the Kampala Arts Scene, they went to the galleries, they went to some artist studios, and I connected with her and the people at Modzi Arts. And I thought why don’t I come down to Zambia, see what’s happening there. And ya, I’ve been in touch with her asking if there are any opportunities. So when I got this chance to come down here, I was like ya, I should come down. Cos like you know, also my work is about the African experience, African culture and Africanism and all that sort of things, so I thought it best to interact or to engage with another African country. I saw it as a golden opportunity to be in another African country so I’m here. For African residencies and artists, I really encourage African artists not to be quick to jump out and to go outside of the continent. I mean there’s a lot to learn here. I mean for African residencies for a fact they make us be in control of whatever we are doing – to control our stories, to control our image. I mean especially you get to know more about yourself before you jump out and see other things, see the world.
 
From your personal experience how did you prepare for your trip to Lusaka from Kampala and how has this helped your artistic practice?
I had a bit of time to prepare. There was like maybe a month or so. So I had to get my finances in check. I applied for some grants, made some connections and I got some funding… some little funding here and there. I tried to sell some works which finally worked out in the end. Then I got on a bus and I was like, I have to get on a bus and use the road to go through this journey. To get a feel of the whole experience, the African experience cos I’ve never been to some places like Dar es Salaam where I passed by. I was meant to take a train from Dar es Salaam to Lusaka but I missed out on that, cos they had advised me that it would be a good experience. So preparation was like that… so some of the journey got a little rough. But everything was quite ok.
 
African art is currently facing some real challenges in terms of all public activities being cancelled or postponed how is this affecting your process of creating work for your residency?
Well, fortunately I think this situation has affected, I could say affected my practice here at the residency positively or maybe negatively as well because I had planned to do something else here. I planned to do something related to my work that I usually do about Pan Africanism and the African culture and the history. I was going to dig deeper into and research more about the traditions here before the white man came. But when I got here because of the whole situation about the Corona virus, I was triggered, I drifted off to another kind of thinking. And I saw that I need to do something about the experience that I am going through, the travelling during these trivial times and ya, I thought I should respond to whatever is happening right now, right at this moment because it is very important. It’s more urgent I thought. But ya, maybe a little later, cos I’m locked up here for some months. I could delve into the other intentions I had to do here at the residency.
 
We are sure at this point of Coronavirus you must desire to be at home but in the light of being locked in Zambia during this period how has the experience been?
Well, I should say the experience has been not bad. I mean firstly, because back at home everybody is just locked down, locked up. They imposed a serious lock down, nobody can do anything, almost nobody can move around in the streets. But here in Lusaka everything seems to be… the “lock down” is a little soft. So I can move around, I can go buy some materials, some supplies if I need to. So I ‘m glad I came here, I have my own place, I have a very nice host who has given me a place to stay and everything. So I’m very glad that I’m using my time profitably here. I am trying to do build a body of work and engaging with the art scene. I mean I can kind of do things here I wouldn’t have done if I was back home cos I would be locked up maybe at my parents home and maybe I couldn’t do anything so I’m really happy that I’m here right now. And making the best of these difficult times at least.
 
Can you share what your thoughts are for the future of artistic practices within the African context?
I’m pretty sure things are going to be better for the African arts or the African arts scene in the near future cos right now you see there some sort of awakening on the African continent. Young people right now engaging with the arts or the visual arts scene… putting out more intelligent work, more researched work, more heavy concepts. I mean better stuff than we used to see back then. And also African artists getting an eye from the outside continents, which is usually problematic but it can be a good thing cos African art is now getting bought outside, even in the continent people are getting and noticing whatever is happening, what African artists are doing. So in a matter of years, 5 or 10 years African art will be something. Going to see more museums I guess, more biennales, more art fairs, more culturally awakened people, which is going to be good. So the future is bright for the African art scene.
 
How have you engaged with the Zambian art scene?
Researched into the Zambian art scene… I have seen a couple of sculptures around Modzi, I’ve seen a few books. I went to some places today, VAC- Visual Arts Council of Zambia/Henry Tayali Gallery I saw some works. I haven’t been to many art studios cos it’s quite hard to get to some places right now, to see some people even right now. I’ve seen some work, and it’s quite impressive, mostly the sculpture. Sculpture is quite a hard a field, it’s quite bulky but I see so many sculptures here which is really a good thing. Here it means they are more patient and dedicated to a much harder field of art. Umm… who could be my favourite artist in Zambia so far? I think I find Aaron Samual Mulenga work interesting. It’s good stuff. And let me see… Clarence Albert Zulu who did some of the Modzi sculptures he’s really good as well… no he’s not really Zambian, he’s Zimbabwean haha! So who else? There’s…. I have to think about that!
 
What’s next for you?
Well, I’m building a body of work that’s going to be like a response to the situation right now. Of course, I don’t want it to be the usual wash your hands, wear a mask kind of thing that you see around the place. So it’s going to be much more about… more something poking in your face. Like you know my work is usually like that, where it’s a little provocative for some people. It’s going to be like that, it’s going to question whatever is happening. I mean as an artist to implore a certain kind of urge or feeling towards whoever is in control of the situation. Towards our governments, towards the people who are ahead of us. What are they providing to deal with the situation? What are they doing about it? What do they need to do? Are they doing enough? And who’s at the back of everything else? Why do we need to wear masks? I mean some questions seem simple and a little stupid. But we need to ask questions always. Where did this thing come from? Why is it now? Is it that now is when people are tip toeing around, they are not standing properly on their feet, just jumping up and down really scared. So those are hard questions to ask… so ya, I’m the one who sacrificed himself to trigger the questions I guess.
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Grow To Share : Centre d'art Waza, lubumbashi

6/30/2019

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The Grow to Share exchange programme aims to provide a context for arts organisations within the SADC region to share skills and knowledge and explore opportunities to develop networks and collaborations.

WAZA WE EXCHANGE
Lubumbashi
24th June to 28th June 2019
During this trip two of our staff members, Julia and Banji visited Centre d'art Waza which is an art centre located in the heart of Lubumbashi's centre ville. The aim of their visit was to spend a week within the Waza Space learning and exchanging. During the course of the week the two organisations exchanged knowledge on the 
development of artistic educational programmes, organizational frameworks
and annual project programming.

Capacity building for cultural operators within the African region is a sure way to create ripples of positive development within the arts and culture spheres. 

But it wasn't all work and no play. The staff visited various sites within the bustling city, such as the Gécamine Mine, home to a towering man-made mountain of burnt earth (read: mining waste), The Lubumbashi National Gallery, which boasted a thought-evoking collection of ethnographic material, the copper lined Cathédral. And last but not least the centre of bustling night life and hi-life Kamalondo. 

The five days spent within the DRC and within the Waza space invoked many spark of inspiration. The Modzi-Waza partnership is a blossoming plant yet to bear fruit for the many mouths of creative to eat. 
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