The Mudariki Post

From left: Wallen Mapondera, Inzwai Mushowe, Enos Mangaku and Richard Mudariki                                                                    (from the Archival Records of the Richard Mudariki ) In early 2006, I participated in and curated my first three-man exhibition at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Mutare, titled "Our Thoughts." I still remember that time vividly: we were young, inexperienced, poor, confused, and unknown artists. We traveled by train overnight from Harare to Mutare, with our artworks stored in the baggage section. Arriving early in the morning for our first visit to the Eastern Highlands city, we discovered some of our artworks were damaged. Hungry and disoriented, we got lost trying to navigate from the train station to the gallery. Without cellphones, we had to rely on asking for dir...

This post is on a simple tip that will help artists to  turn your sales into marketing tools for future sales. It is largely encouraged that artists follow up after every sale with a thank-you note. According to Jason Horejs, this thank-you note adds a warm, personal touch that will let your clients know you truly appreciate their business. He advices to add in your thank-you note a request get a picture of the artwork you sold them that will be of incredible value to you in your future marketing efforts. The thank-you note is this: '.....If you have a moment and would be willing to snap a photograph of the piece, I would love to see it in its new home, and I’d love to share the photo with clients who are considering my work. You can email the photo to me at info@richardmudariki.com.' This simple request can results in a photo or several photos of the piece. Some customers will enjoy showing the piece off and love the thought of helping the artist’s career alon...

Its afternoon, in class, books and pens on my little desk, a man walks in and stands in front of us. The room goes quite, we stare at him. He stares back. He is our lecturer for 'musueology' or museum studies or MUS we would call it. And this man begins to write on the chalkboard..... ..........Museology:- the study of how to organize and manage museums and museum collections. Museologist: a professional who works in the museum environment................. That was in 2005, some 9 years ago and for the next 4 years of my life l was to learn what  museology was all about, and wishing that one day I could become a museologist. Quite a fancy title I think. "Hie, my name is Richard, I am a museologist " Museology was a subject that I took keen interest in, (as a student of a new graduate program introduced at a Zimbabwean university*) and it involved object documentation, preventive conservation, display and interpretation methods, storage, security. It also ...

Considered  to be the Olympics of the visual arts, the Venice Biennale is a few weeks away.The art world biggest event kicks off on the 1st June and runs until November 2013 in Venice, Italy. Zimbabwe, one of the 3 African countries at the event, has selected five artists to represent the country at the 55th Venice Biennale, Italy. According to the National Gallery's Facebook Page, it seems all is set. The five-month exhibition will see Voti Thebe, Rashid Jogee, Virginia Chihota, Portia Zvavahera and Michele Mathison exhibiting at Zimbabwe Pavilion in Venice, Italy. Speaking to the Curator of the Pavilion, Raphael Chikukwa some weeks ago, he said in the selection of the artists, care was made to represent different religions, races and gender in the mix of the artists. I was pleased to see the inclusion of Virginia Chihota and Portia Zvavahera, two emerging female visual artists who l believe are going to be very successful at the Biennale. According to the Chronicle, the c...

The internet is becoming increasingly important as a marketing tool for artists and the art business. More and more art will be sold online, and artists' websites will eventually become the primary vehicles for showing work and presenting credentials (if this hasn't happened already). Even at this early stage, you can make the internet work for you, but you must do it in conjunction with traditional ways of getting your art out there, like showing wherever and whenever you get the chance, networking within your art community, participating in juried and non-juried shows, and so on. Assuming you're doing all this and more, and being respectful of any galleries or agents who represent you, here are some ways to enhance your online profile. Most importantly, buy a domain name like  www.richardmudariki.com  or  www.mudarikiart.com  and have it hosted by a reputable hosting service. Do not use free websites, web space from your internet provider, or web space on your frie...

Over the past few months there have been growing reports of police brutality in South Africa and the lack of trust to those you are supposed to protect communities.Recently a taxi driver was dragged by a police van and later on dies in custody from his injuries.   Grilled, acrylic on canvas, 2012. Artwork inspired by institutionalized brutality and murder by police, governments and leaders According to the Mail and Guardian, there are plenty of theories on why police beat up citizens (and foreigners) with impunity: a brutalized society that never fully healed after apartheid; the high level of threat faced by police officers and their sense of being under siege; little proactive investigation of police excesses; remilitarisation of the police force that failed to instil discipline but did come with "shoot to kill" overtones; and orders to be tough on crime and criminals - orders that come right from the top. However, regardless of cause or combination of...

Background This was a one hour short presentation of the visual arts sector in Zimbabwe prsented to an audience in Cape Town, South Africa.  Its gave general overview of the art forms in the country, with a specail focus more Zimbabwean painting and sculpture. Richard presenting this paper at AFAI (2011)     Introduction to Zimbabwe This landlocked country in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. South Africa borders it to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. The word Zimbabwe, translated from the Shona language means “large houses of stone”, with reference to the ancient Great Zimbabwe Stone Ruins in Masvingo, south of the country.  In southern Africa, Great Zimbabwe forms part of the  more than 200 sites in which display the local architectural tradition of mortaless monumental granite walls. It is important to say that this site is a very s...