As the art world converges in Venice to celebrate under the theme “Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere,” (conceived by Brazil’s Adriano Pedrosa), Zimbabwe is well represented at the Zimbabwe Pavilion facilitated by the Zimbabwe National Art Gallery at the Venice Biennale. More to come in further blogs on our Zimbabwean artists Sekai Machache, Troy Makaza, Moffat Takadiwa, Gillian Rosselli, Kombo Chapfika, and Victor Nyakauru.
Blogs such as this one on artweb by Richard Mudariki of ArtHarare:
And as I eagerly follow from a distance, so many other art cultural influences from other countries exhibiting begin to resonate with me – beads and boundaries have synergy and I am drawn to this article :
Glass beads at the Biennale- an exciting article as I find this Canadian offering by Kiwanga absolutely fascinating, given my interest in glass beads used for centuries in our Mahenye (hlengwe) area, for trade and for weighting and decorating the fully gathered traditional dancing skirts, Chibabela. The East coast of Africa was a route for Chinese glass beads and Indian salampore fabric to travel to Mozambique, then Zimbabwe, Africa by dhow, there at the mouth of the great Save River and inland to be exchanged for gold, and other commodities. Kapwani is interested in pursuing “how one material is exchanged for another and how we made our architectures out of that.”
My painting “Dancing with my sisters, Dancing with my cellphone…”, acrylic and beadwork on stretched canvas, 3 x 4 feet, reflects my love of these beads in the celebrations of our Hlengwe dancers at Mahenye and my reflections on how traditional beadwork, as seen on their gorgeous Chibabela dancing skirts, melds with modernity as one dancer, in the very act of dancing out her culture, clutches a cellphone….
Lin Barrie “Dancing with my sisters, Dancing with my cellphone…”, acrylic and beadwork on stretched canvas, 3 x 4 feet
And a detail of the beading –
Lin Barrie – glass beads and canvas -stitched detail
Lin Barrie
The Save Valley Conservancy stretches along the upper reaches of the great Save River in the south east of Zimbabwe. The Gonarezhou National Park laps against the southern banks of the Save River and between these two nestles the Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve. These three celebrated wildlife areas form part of the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area, (GLTFCA)- a unique wilderness jewel which is home to the “Big Five” (endangered Black and White rhinos, elephants, buffalo, lion, leopard) and the ”Little Six” (Klipspringer, Suni, Duiker, Steenbok, Sharpe's Grysbok and Oribi). Endangered African wild dogs, Cheetah, Brown hyena, Bat-eared foxes and a host of special birds and plants contribute to the immense variety of this ecosystem. Communities around the GLTFCA contribute to innovative partnerships with National Parks and the private sector, forming a sound base on which to manage social, economic and environmental issues.
This is home to artist and writer Lin Barrie and her life partner, conservationist Clive Stockil.
Expressing her hopes, fears and love for this special ecosystem with oil paints on canvas, Lin Barrie believes that the essence of a landscape, person or animal, can only truly be captured by direct observation.
Lin Barrie states: “Through my art, and my writing, I feel an intimate connection with the natural world, and from my extensive field sketches of wild animals, people and landscapes, I create larger works on canvas.
Lin's work is in various public and private collections in South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Australia, England, Canada, Sweden and the United States of America. She is represented by galleries in South Africa, Zimbabwe, England, Kenya and Florida, USA.
wine and wild dogs 
So lovely! Thanks for sharing as always Lin