ART AND CRISES

there is something very strange about the connection between art and crises.some of the greatest works of art have emerged during times of crises in human lives.

maybe this is what led shimmer chinodya[zimbabwean author] to say,'writing is drawn more towards pain than happiness.'i strongly believe he was correct when he made a statement to that effect.

the repression in czarist russia seems to have made the creative juices of writers like nikolai gogol flow.i have read his short story entitled ' the great coat'.it is a great story which essentially is a serious indictment of czarist bureaucracy.

the witty play' the government inspector' by the same author is satiric of the corrupt tendencies of russian public officials in that era.

in respect of visual arts[painting in particular] i am aware of the painting 'guernica' by pablo picasso.it evokes images of what happened during the nazi bombing of guernica, spain.the tragedy inspired picasso to paint 'guernica'.

closer to home[zimbabwe] i have read some of the works of malawian poets jack mapanje and frank chipasula.the crisis that banda was in malawi inspired these poets to compose poems that leave one mesmerised.just leaf through the pages of 'of chameleons and gods' by jack mapanje and whet your appetite.the hard hitting works of frank chipasula in 'whispers in the wings' will leave you nodding in agreement that art thrives where crises abound!

back home[zimbabwe]i still can recall the hard hitting lyrics of the songs of dr thomas tafirenyika mapfumo.the crisis that rhodesia was,greatly inspired this musician.even post independence the numerous crises bedevilling zimbabwe made him compose songs with prophetic lyrics.

i do not know what the great debacle on election results in zimbabwe has yielded in terms of works of art.when the crisis is over i will seek to coordinate the publication of works of art created during this other sad chapter in our history[herstory too].i am almost certain that our artists[myself included] are busy.the creative juices are flowing in the midst of this ominous chaos!