Gypsy in Africa: Lusaka National Museum

The entrance to the building. That silver statue is a collaborative piece by different Zambian Artists

It only costs 2 Kwacha for entry!!! That's less that 40pence if you're in Britain

A couple of days ago, I made a trip to somewhere I have always wanted to go but for some reason have not been motivated enough to take the first step; The Lusaka National Museum. First of all I would like to urge any Zambians reading this to go because it's so important we know what is in such establishments, they hold our history and you have no excuse coz it is literally dirt cheap at only 2KWACHA!!! While I was there I met a 12 year old young man and we spoke for two seconds about art and he told me he IS an artist! I was impressed by the fact that he was willing to see more and get inspired.
First of all I would like to let you know that ALL THE PHOTOS I took were taken sneakily due to the fact that you are NOT ALLOWED TO PHOTOGRAPH ANYTHING in the Museum. So I may be hunted down and arrested by the lovely Zambian bwanas for this! See how much I care about showcasing my country and feeding my fellow gypsies curiosities? lol!

THE ART GALLERY  

Piece is called: Food For work II, Acrylic on canvas by William Miko (1997)

This is a Serigraph on canvas piece by Lutanda Mwamba called 'Obsufcation III' (1998)

This print on paper piece is called 'Water Blues' and is by Clement Mfuzi

I absolutely loveed this abstract mixed media pieceby Godfrey Setti (1993)

I used to love using chalk when creating my own pieces when I studied art so I was absolutely delighted to discover this piece called 'Family' by Shadreck Simukanga from 1999

Thabiso Phokompe's acrylic on canvas piece called 'Soweto Beat'(1995) is so beautiful, I stared at this piece for about ten minutes, I was hypnotized I kid you not

This acrylic on canvas piece is called 'Village tap' by Morris Musonda (1995). This was another favourite of mine. I love the colour and depth of the piece, there is an abstract, visually surrealist metaphor embedded in this piece. And the colours etc AH! LOVE IT! WOULD BUY IF I HAD MONEY!

THE STILL LIFE SECTION DEPICTING RURAL ZAMBIA

All this is acutally real sculpters!! The two women pounding with large mortar and pestal typical of Zambian rural life. Behind them though is a large painting of a field

A woman crushing grains with a stone. How real does she look!!! so beautiful

Men making working tools and farming tools by the fire, something which is typical in very rural Zambia. Our people are craftsmen and its beautiful

An old man and some young boys, possibly depicting a man telling children stories of the olden days, which is typical still of Zambia life. My grandmother always tells me stories of olden days

Young girls with corn rows in their hair playing a Zambian game called Chiato. You put stones in the circle and try to take them out as with out touching any of the others, basically the one who takes the most out without touching any others, wins! And there you go.lol.

An older woman cleaning some clay pots, however it looks as though she is making some clay pots. She is wearing chitenge wrap (sarong type of concept) 

I was really impressed with this section on the second floor of the gallery and I cannot even imagine the amount of work the artists put into every single sculpter which there are like 20 to 30 of them. I love the level of detail as well as the level of accuracy in the way they created the atmosphere of the place. The did their best to stay true to Zambian culture as well as dress sense. I am absolutely proud to be Zambian, partly because of this section.lol.
I didn't get to see the witchcraft section due to it being closed of for maintenance and is still being updated. I will however re-visit the gallery and check it out soon as it is done and of course I will post all of the creepy images, or maybe I shouldn't I don't want to be arrested.lol.

THE SCULPTURES

This is like the smaller version of a much larger metal sculpter somewhere here is Lusaka and is called 'The Freedom Statue'

This installation is showing what local public transport looks like. The blue and white has been in effect since the previous government (MMD) but is already going under a makeover with the addition of an orange stripe in the middle of the blue and white, however some buses are being repainted white for this purpose. Change!

I was so amazed by this wooden sculpter  with several figers interlocking and its a family with a mother father and children. How talented are Zambian Artists!!!

Due to the fact that the witchcraft section was on lock. I decided to still post the rather creepy but beautifully creative sculpter of a foot going into a hand. Super interesting, I don't know what drugs inspired this piece but thank you. 

I hope you enjoyed this post. I am still in Zambia "The Real Africa" and enjoying every second of it. I will say that I would love to see more art galleries in the country. I feel that we need more in Lusaka as well, to showcase and sell the work of local artists. We do have amazing establishments such as Kabwata cultural village but I feel that we still need more hubs and art galleries. However kudos to the Lusaka National Museum for including an art gallery in the building. I was really glad to see a lot of abstract pieces as I recall some people on twitter speaking about lack of creativity, there is NO LACK OF CREATIVITY. There are just different types of artists, simple.
xo
The African Gypsy