Story by Patience Nyagato

More than 13 visual artists walked away with prizes at the Zimbabwe visual arts awards held in Harare Friday night.

Walking away with the first prize in the mixed media category, 54-year-old veteran visual artist Semina Mpofu bares her soul on how she made her award-winning piece mourning her son.

“It was at a time when I lost my son when I did this art piece. I was in pain and only managed to finish one, but I’m happy I made it,” said Mpofu.

The awards are a platform for local artists to showcase their talents.

Guest speaker, retired Justice Maphios Cheda noted, “It puts us on the map as a country. It is also a showcase that we have a lot of talent which for many years has not been tapped. People should now understand that arts are an industry that you can make money out of. We encourage youth to come up and showcase their talent.”

“These awards are meant to inspire artists. It keeps them in the studios and it is important for the country to be able to recognise artists who are the ambassadors of this country,” said the National Gallery of Zimbabwe Executive Director, Mr Raphael Chikukwa.

The grand prize winner, Victor Nyakauru who walked away with ZW$1 million, was automatically admitted to being part of the artists to represent the country and showcase their craft at the Venice biennale set for next year.