‘In Pursuit of Joy’
A Visit at The Lechwe Trust Art Gallery (LTAG).
On 02, June, 2021, my feet stepped into a space where they had longed to step, The Lechwe Trust Art Gallery (LTAG).
Sometime last year, through my exploratory journeys as an aspiring domestic tourist, I came to know about the Lechwe Trust Art Gallery. And a couple of times after the discovery, I would pass by the site but never making a stop by. My excuse? Honestly, I don’t know. Maybe I wasn’t just ready to step in. But a somewhat lame excuse I would give is, ‘Lagos road is too nice and smooth to jump off a skateboard.’ And if you ask me, that’s not even a lame excuse or reason but rather, a justifiable one, at least if you have skated on Lagos road before. (It is for this ‘somewhat lame’ reason I had left my penny board — a plastic type of skateboard on the visit that I’m about to walk you through.)
But even though I hadn’t made stops, one thing I would always do was promise myself that someday I would make a proper and planned visit and step my feet into the Art gallery. And so, it happened that that ‘someday’ that I kept on promising myself was on Wednesday, the 2nd of June, 2021.
I had prepared and planned this visit some time last month (May) but due to certain engagements, I couldn’t manage to visit. Wednesday seemed just the right day for me to make the visit, so I had set out to accomplish my long self-promised mission since it was a ‘mission possible.’
On a day like that one, usually, I carry with me my penny board but just as mentioned earlier, I had left it so that I could reserve my energy, concentrate, and focus on the mission. Hence, I walked from the Central Business District (CBD) to the LTAG, Rhodes park.
The long walk was worthwhile though, because along the way, I had a wide range of opportunities to carry out my photography experimentations using my phone’s camera. And luckily, I took some shots that I’m impressed and pleased with and I’m excited to share some of the shots with you.
The Gallery Office Park
Around 12’O clock, with the sun on its central position, I reached The Gallery Office Park, home of the Lechwe Trust Art Gallery and the #Social restaurant just to mention but a few. The environment and atmosphere is so warm and cool at the same time that you would even think as though nothing goes on there, but a lot does.
The security woman I found on duty was kind enough to direct and escort me to the Art Gallery premises. (It’s located just by the entrance of The Gallery Office Park building, on the left side.) Unfortunately, the Art Gallery was closed, with its transparent glass doors and windows covered with huge brown paper bags. The fortunate thing, however, was that the security woman had access to enter the Art Gallery. So, she went inside the building to alert the people who were around or rather, in charge, about my arrival. And while she was still in, I read a notice on the glass door that read, “The gallery is closed due to…” At first glance, my mission felt like it was just another series of ‘mission impossible.’ But after a little while, I realized that it wasn’t.
At that point, like most people, I would have gotten dismayed that I had wasted my money, time and, energy but rather, I was glad that, at least, I had fulfilled and accomplished my mission to visit the Art Gallery despite the fact that my feet would not step and see their way into the building.
Whilst reading another notice, the security woman came out of the building alongside a brown skin toned man whom I presume to be in his 50’s. I thanked the madam for her kind gesture as she sought back to her office.
The man, Mr. Alex Nkazi, a benevolent man, If I am to describe him, happens to be the curator of the art gallery. I also got amazed to find out that he was once an arts teacher (in fact the first arts teacher) at Matero boys secondary school, a school that I greatly admire since childhood.
We did the usual greetings and introductions, and I briefed him on why I had came, also acknowledging the fact that it was my first time stepping into the gallery zone.
After learning that I’m not an artist and getting acquainted about my whereabouts, I could tell from his non-verbal and verbal gestures that he was astounded. He wasn’t the only one though.
A cool and friendly gentleman whom I met inside the gallery, too, expressed the same gestures after knowing that I had come all the way from Lusaka West just to see the Arts. Does that astound you too? Well, that just gives you a clue on how much I fancy Art.
Those reactions weren’t new to me, however. They also reminded me of the first time that I visited Global platform.
Expressing genuine concern and kindness, Mr. Nkazi, If I can recall and recite his exact words, said something like, “I will allow you inside even though we are not open to the public due to the the ongoing preparations for the in-coming exhibition which will start tomorrow (03/06/21).” If only you could see the happiness on my face and feel how gleeful my heart and soul were after hearing those soothing and golden words!
So there I was, inside the beautiful, quiet, peaceful and surreal atmosphere, feeling so privileged, honored and, humbled by the great gesture shown to me to have a preview of the In Pursuit Of Joy exhibition. Feelings of gaiety blisteringly filled my heart and soul because never in my life had I been surrounded by such beautiful and gigantic pieces of Zambian contemporary art.
It was such a memorable moment and gesture that I will never cease to forget! It’s just bad that I didn’t take any pictures because I thought it absurd for me to do so considering the gesture shown to me. Nevertheless, I’m so grateful that I have an extra-ordinary organ — the brain, which captured and stored those images for me in my long-term memory. But here is a picture showcasing the new works of Zambia’s top artists; V. Makashi and P. Mumba.
Experiencing the Power of Art.
The beautiful masterpieces depicted interesting and thought provoking stories. Each piece of art told its own story. From one piece to another, I could see, touch, hear, smell, and feel the emotions, and feelings depicted by each piece of art and the characters in it. The only thing that I couldn’t do as far as I can remember was ‘tasting,’ since there was no sign of food or beverage anywhere in the paintings. Or maybe I just didn’t see them…
To be honest with myself, I don’t think I have ever experienced the power of Art much like the way I did. Deciphering the stories behind each piece of art made me feel some type of way. Some pieces dejected my spirits while others turned them upbeat. For instance;
Patrick Mumba’s paintings were saddening and heartbreaking. They depicted the displacement of people from their usual places of residence to unknown destinations — . In every single piece, people are fleeing, some on foot with luggage on top of their heads, others using other means of transport, i.e. road and water transport systems— all heading into different directions to unknown destinations seeking asylum.
The piece that really got to me is one where a boat with many lives on board who where trying to crossover to the other side of the world was sinking in the middle of the river, which brought to mind the emotional sinking scene of the Titanic. The sinking of this boat, however, was much saddening and heartbreaking than the Titanic scene if you think about it a little bit more. Like, think about the reason why these people found themselves in the boat in the first place. Why?? Displacement right? What led to the displacement? And where were they heading to? What about their families? Where were they? Would they see each other again?
Those were some thoughts that flashed through my mind whilst contemplating on the painting.
On the other hand, Victor Makashi’s pieces depicted the cultural way of life and set up. From my observations, it seemed that Makashi’s paintings put emphasis on the preservation of cultural heritage — which is under threat, mainly by Western influences and other factors.
One story that caught much of my attention was a collection of three pieces that were telling a single story. In this story, men and women are in what seems to be a disco in a traditional set up with translucent lights of red, blue and a blend of other colors flashing throughout the room as men and women with chitenges wrapped around their waists dance their hearts out to the sound and rhythm from the energetically hard bitten drums by men. I could strongly feel the energy and vibes that each character in the story possessed to an extent where I felt like dancing but just ended up wagging my heard in bliss.
It was such an unforgettable, amazing, and pleasurable experience that I hadn’t had in a minute! And when I say a ‘minute,’ I mean years man!
To sum up,
My visit at the Lechwe Trust Art Gallery in a nutshell, was JOYFUL. I found joy in the In pursuit of joy exhibition preview. And I’m definitely looking forward to make a return visit so as to learn more about the stories behind the pieces of art from the artists themselves. (I feel there is a lot to unpack from those stories.)
My remarks,
To the authentic art lovers, collectors, or those who find art exhibitions pleasurable, I urge and encourage you to visit the Lechwe Trust Art Gallery at the Gallery Office Park in Rhodes Park, along the Lagos road. And hopefully, like me, you too, will find joy in the In Pursuit of Joy exhibition.
The exhibition is open to the public and it will run up to the 30th of June, 2021. For more information, you can visit their website on https://www.lechwetrust.org or their social media platforms.
Time to leave…
Before I left, I made sure to express my heartfelt gratitudes and bid farewell to Mr. Alex Nkazi, to the gentleman I found inside the Art Gallery (whose name I didn’t ask), who was also kind enough to explain to me the stories behind the pieces of art, and not forgetting the kind security woman who directed and escorted me to the Art gallery premises.
Before I leave this space too, I would also love to express my gratitudes to you, dear reader, for sparing your precious time and reading to this end. It has been a pleasure walking you through my journey ‘In Pursuit of Joy.’
I would also love to take this time to give a big shout out to My big bro, Oswardmukondah, my Cousin, Bright Chabala, and my good friends, Macdonald Phiri and Chakwa Eddy Besa for taking their time in previewing this piece of writing and giving their honest feedback which gave essence to this write up.
Thanks once more.
