MEET THE AUTHOR

Gillian Atherstone

Curator of traditional and contemporary art, National Gallery of Zimbabwe, 1979-1988.

The book is the culmination, for the author, of a life-long pursuit of the meaning of art, and African art provided a key, the insight that mind computes according to two codes of meaning, the material code and the aesthetic code, and that the phenomenon of art marries both in one supreme moment of understanding. Born and having lived in Zimbabwe for 70 years, the author was privileged to begin a career collecting, researching and exhibiting Africa’s art at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, firstly as Exhibitions Officer, then Curator, from 1979 to the end of the ’80s curating exhibitions locally, regionally and internationally, and establishing the National Gallery’s Collection of Zimbabwean historic art. From the ’90s onwards, she joined the private sector, opening galleries in Harare, featuring art from Zimbabwe and other African countries.

Her involvement with the remote communities of Zimbabwe continued not only through collecting art, but also through opening a small voluntary charity (communities-can-do-it.com) to support communities and individuals caring for large numbers of orphaned children. Her hope is that this book is a contribution towards the growing drive to reclaim African cultural realities as a source of key principles for the future.

MEET THE ARTIST

Duncan Wylie

Photography and conceptual realization

Duncan Wylie has been travelling back to Zimbabwe, the country of his birth, for 17 years, between 1998 and 2015 to take the photographs, recording the traces of an historical culture that he first encountered as a young boy. This natural affinity permitted him to work in the field and document this heritage which became more difficult to find with the passing of each year.

Duncan was born in 1975 in Harare, Zimbabwe. He became a French citizen in 2005, and now lives and works in London and Paris. After studying at ENSBA (the School of Fine Arts in Paris) Duncan devoted his career to the visual arts. His work has been exhibited in many public and private institutions in Africa and abroad. He has work in the permanent collections of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the Museum of Grenoble, the MUDAM in Luxembourg, as well as the CNAP, and the FRAC in France. He has shown in the Museum of Grenoble, the Museum of Modern Art and the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, the Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town, and the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

He states that ‘this is above all a work of transmission and a valuable insight for the non-African world towards a deeper appreciation of African art forms, and a wider perception of the possibilities of art, a key to a world few have experienced.’

www.duncan-wylie.com

Foreword

The Foreword is written by the Director of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Doreen Sibanda.

Doreen has been Director since 1990, a period which has seen an extraordinary range of exhibitions and workshops at the Gallery, including the prestigious International Conference of African Cultures (ICAC) in 2017. A period which has also seen an increase in the outreach of the National Gallery into the rural areas and townships, brining opportunities to children who would otherwise have no exposure to art. She has leant her support to this project from its beginnings to the forthcoming culmination of its publication.

Publisher

Eric Ghysels

5 Continents Editions, an independent publishing house of art books, was created in February 2002 by Eric Ghysels—Belgian and Armenian by birth but Italian by adoption. Today the company is an undisputed leader in the production of books dealing with the traditional arts of Africa, Asia, the Americas and Oceania. Its publications concentrate on art in the broad sense, taking in archaeology and ancient, modern and contemporary arts, but also the decorative arts, fashion, design and photography, among others.