Exhibitions

Welcome All. I see many friends of Lechwe Trust here, but for the newcomers, I’ll give a very brief history of the Trust. We were founded in 1986 with the aim of supporting the visual arts in Zambia, art education, and Zambia’s cultural heritage.

We have also built up a permanent collection of contemporary Zambian art, dating from before independence to the present. (Until we got this wonderful gallery space, we displayed a selection of the artworks in various venues.) We have a collection of about 400 pieces, thanks in part to many generous donations.

Now I would like to tell you the story behind the strange title for this current show. About ten years ago, Lechwe Trust committee was saddened to hear of the deaths of six of our most talented artists within a short space of time. We decided – in cooperation with Visual Arts Council – to put on a retrospective exhibition, with works for sale, proceeds to benefit the bereaved families. The exhibition was called Art Lives On, and it was a great success.

Yet again we have lost two of our most talented and important artists, and the Lechwe Trust committee decided to honour them with a retrospective called Art Lives On – ii.

Unlike our usual shows, this one has a double purpose: firstly to honour Lutanda and Flinto and to give the public a chance to admire their work; and secondly, and most importantly, to display works, which will be for sale, from the estates of the two artists. These sales will support the families and their children’s education.

As well as works from our own Lechwe collection, we have received loans of sculptures from private collectors, and these works are NOT for sale. However: all sculptures, prints, and paintings which ARE for sale are clearly marked.

A few personal comments about the artists and their work.
Lutanda was a master printmaker, as well as a painter. As a printmaker myself, I have been overwhelmed by his technical skill, his variety of subjects, and his continual experimenting with new printing techniques. Flinto’s sculpture is also amazing and, thanks to some generous loans, particularly from the Sardanis family, you can trace Flinto’s development from very early wooden sculpture to his very last stonework.

Last but not least, a few ‘thank yous’.
Firstly, my own team – the executive committee, William Bwalya Miko and Shenda Zukas; and Nikki Ashley in the office. The gallery staff under curator Alex Nkazi, and their team of helpers. Lee-Anne Singh and Image Promotions. Also, the art collectors who have trusted us with their precious artworks; and the families of Flinto and Lutanda, who have been so helpful and cooperative. Finally, an extra ‘thank you’ to William Miko who undertook the role of consultant curator.

The Lechwe Trust Art Gallery is off Lagos Road in Lusaka’s Rhodes Park area. Late for work one hot day in November I’d made a fleeting pass through Gallery Office Park for a quick lunch. That’s my lame excuse for just an appreciative glance through the art gallery’s glass doors. But, in early January a more perceptive friend suggested a proper visit and I got my undeserved second chance.

There is no “been there, done that” feature of the current exhibition. Over 150 artworks* fill the comfortable space. These are dominated by sculpture, painting in other medium and the prints of two talented Zambian artists. The only two larger than life portraits done by another artist simply serve to introduce the two masters who have left behind their works, the late Flinto Chandia and Lutanda Mwamba.

Flinto’s marble pieces are cast in various hues, from the creamy speckled ‘nest’ to the blacks and blues of the ‘amatebeto’ sculptures.

Many of Lutanda’s untitled works speak to their posthumous rescue from the artist’s work spaces. Print after print reflects the mastery of Lutanda’s expert printmaking. He moves seemingly effortlessly between linocut, serigraph and woodcut prints. ‘Message Man’ is consigned from the artist’s family estate.

Private art collectors have shared marble and wood sculptures with Lechwe Trust from their own collections extending the life span of the two artists’ artworks. We are pointedly conscious of the cooperation of the artists’ families to this fine display.

My companions and I wandered from one end to the other, often coming back to re look at a piece that had captured our attention in a special way. Personally, I reflect that these men are my contemporaries. The one a little older when he passed away, the other more than a decade younger leave one in wonder at the gifts they have left behind. Lutanda’s exquisite colour and black and white prints seem to me to capture the hopes and fears of our time. While Flinto’s carefully carved free standing abstracts are solid assurance that life has to go on.

A visit to the gallery before the exhibit closes at the end of February 2020 is an opportunity not to miss. Lechwe Trust’s art collection, other collectors and the artists’ families have presented a fascinating collection whose proceeds from selected artwork on sale will benefit the families they have left behind.

Chuundu Malele (Zambian Art Lover) 3 January 2020