RWIZI RUNOKURA NEZVIKOVA - A RIVER DEPENDS ON THE STREAMS THAT FLOW INTO IT. (SHONA PROVERB)
Zimbabwe has hit the headlines and we have been catapulted from obscurity to the glare of international scrutiny. But the current interest in the economic and political situation only mirrors a portion of our experience as an African country. In spite of difficulties people still run businesses, students enrol at college, consumers spend, and projects, programmes and products are launched. The experiences of neighbouring countries testify to this. We are all trying to move forward, it's just that the pace has been reduced to a painful crawl.
As a profession, graphic design has only
enjoyed a few years of normality, having emerged from a colonial past,
war of liberation and the ten-year State of Emergency. There is no
doubt that the illusionary economic boom of the 1990's thrust graphic
design into a more prominent and appropriate place in business
activity. Most designers benefited from the imf policies - access to
foreign currency, increased competitiveness and trade liberalisation.
Designers' increased confidence brought them together to form the
Graphic Design Association in Zimbabwe (grazi) and challenge the status
quo of shoddy work in the profession and allied trades. Designers
demanded choice in paper, rejected bad print in favour of cheaper and
higher standards from Mauritius, embraced new technology and through
grazi started to promote work of excellence.
The first
few grazi member exhibitions showed a remarkable diversity in clients
and the beginnings of a search for African identity. This threw up
predictable solutions as designers sold a version of Africa that
appealed to European ideas. Naive illustration, use of pattern and
'ethnic' colours and references to colonial Victorian imagery abounded
in tourism literature. Just about anything from packaging to posters
were framed with borders of Ndebele patterns and chevrons. But it did
herald a recognition by both client and designer that they were
operating in an African environment. The poster work of Chaz
Maviyane-Davies stands alone in both content and style. His
internationally acclaimed work has encouraged global interest in
African visual identity. He raised the hopes and dreams of many a young
Zimbabwean designer.
The bumpy road towards visual
identity hit a pothole with the Zimbabwe Institute of Vigital Arts
(ziva) seminar on Cultural Variance in Global Design held in 1999. The
lecture by Ricardo Gomez from San Francisco University, to a very mixed
audience, ended with a fierce debate on ideas of legitimacy and
cultural appropriation. Designers were asked, what happens when the
designer, as an interpreter of society, is a minority in a dominant
culture? Gomez commented, ''We may sit or live next to someone and
think we can become their spokesperson, can advocate their culture or
identity. But there is the risk of breakdown or of insignificance of
their culture, something is lost in the translation.'' The exploration
of African visual identity has taken off in South Africa with or
without questions being raised. But perhaps the biggest question
Zimbabwean designers need to ask is, what is our role as designers? 70%
of the population live in the rural areas. 80% of the total population
live in poverty. Zimbabwe is one of the worst examples of income
inequality in the world with the richest 20% of the population
receiving 60% of the income.
The last two years have seen
the environment in which designers operate shrink. Many designers have
left the country in the exodus of the middle class, black and white.
The economy is on the brink of collapse. It is now a matter of
sink-or-tread water. Human rights abuses including freedom of
expression have created a climate of fear and self-censorship. The path
designers so enthusiastically set off on during the 1990's has been
eclipsed. But hope is not easy to extinguish, and there are brave
initiatives that challenge the situation Zimbabwe is in. ziva is now in
its third year and the intake of students is increasing. With support
from the local and international community the creation of an exciting
learning environment rooted in African experience will grow and
develop. Community publishing, often overlooked by designers in their
preoccupation with style over content, is tackling grass-root issues of
leadership and democracy through the development of printed resources.
2000 saw the launch of a major opposition party popularised by the
symbol of the open hand versus the clenched fist of Zanu-pf.
Maviyane-Davies published a courageous visual political commentary
running up to the 2000 elections. grazi refuses to lay down and die.
Mike Danes, Chairperson of grazi, sums up the mood, ''Design in
Zimbabwe has made tentative roots, more clients are realising the
effects of home grown design. The gains we have made cannot be reversed
so easily although they may seem overshadowed by other concerns. Change
is inevitable, and with it will come an upsurge in designer and client
confidence liberating creativity.''
About this article
In Icograda BoardMessage 8, Vol 2001-2003.
This article was written a year ago. Since then the situation in
Zimbabwe has deteriorated rapidly and become increasingly desperate.