Snail/Fire artworks at the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe National Cultural Month Launch at Rusununguko Clinic, Zimbabwe, 17th May 2025….. and to show at Budula Festival 2025. As Burnt Offerings Collective, we exhibit my paintings and installations, Johnson’s snail theme snare wire sculptures and Kelli’s fine art photographic Fire prints from her short art film titled “Burnt Offerings”…
Snail paintings each 20 x 20 cm , mounted on chiklata-traditional reed doors
Caged Culture is the real focus – the talking point for me- my installation combines a salvaged bird cage, a traditional gathered xibelani (chibelana) skirt made from glass beads and woven striped Salampore fabric from India, a fire cured local clay pot, glass bead necklaces made by my xangana lady friends and myself, , a hata (head pad), a rickety wooden table constructed by hawkers on the side of the road, giant snail shells collected from our Mahenye area (some painted and embellished by Kelli Barker) ….
Caged Culture in our home..
Is culture a living thing- needing freedom to grow and thrive, or should it be caged, protected and insulated -will that preserve it?!
Clive Stockil and Mrs Gotore of National Arts Council discuss the artwork- flanked by Johnson’s Zuze’s Shell Wasp…
That wasp…
Is culture constrained and forgotten in a cage as generations move on and forget old ways- or can culture adapt and renew itself in innovative ways to remain powerful and relevant?!
Giant land snail shells behind bars…
The unexpected creativity of Kelli’s painted and embellished shells emphasizes the potential for creative change that culture has to embrace in order to survive…
Snail Shell on Fire …..!!!
The painted and jewelled Snail Shell on Fire echoes one of Kelli’s art prints, ”Fire” -a still from her movie Burnt Offerings
“Fire” body art and film concept by Kelli Barker
The jeweled shells choreographed with dance art skirts and collages that I am creating ..
jeweled shells choreography
Johnson Zuze exhibited his Snailshell wire wasp and spider, last seen on the National Gallery Miniatures exhibition…..
Johnson Zuze, Humba (Snail Shell) Spider and Humba (Snail Shell) Wasp Medium/ wire sculpture with found objects and humba, (snail) shell.
And the amazing “Humba- His Masters Voice” snail sculpture that Johnson created for me from a antique gramophone speaker salvaged from the burnt offerings of my house fire….last seen at “Burnt Offerings ” exhibition, Pikicha Gallery
“Humba” by Johnson Zuze, wire and found objects sculpture, 120 x 120 cm
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 