Gallery Delta, located at number 110 Livingstone Avenue in Harare, has bowed to sustained economic pressure and closed its doors.
The closure of the gallery after about 29 years of hosting
exhibitions is a serious blow to the artists and Zimbabwe’s arts industry at
large.
Established in 1975, Gallery Delta had become an important
institution in the country’s arts history as a number of prominent Zimbabwean
artists launched their careers at the centre.
The gallery used to provide a unique historical,
architectural and artistic environment for the presentation and sale of
contemporary art.
Most current local visual artists have in one way or the
other benefited from the gallery that used to host exhibitions of Zimbabwean
paintings, graphics, mixed media sculptures and ceramics.
It has not been business as usual since the death of the
gallery founders, Helen Lieros and Derek Huggins, who succumbed to COVID-19
within a week of each other in July last year.
The last exhibition at the gallery was Freedom, which paid
tribute in part to Lieros, Huggins and Foundation for Arts and the Humanities.
Before its closure, about three months ago, the gallery’s
board of trustees chairman Gregory Shaw said it had become increasingly
difficult to sustain the effort and to remain true to the vision of the
esteemed gallery founders.
Gallery Delta’s doors have been shut at a time the creative
industry is now breathing a sigh of relief and trying to rise from the ashes of
the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement, Shaw confirmed the closure of the gallery.
“We are indebted to our founders, Derek Huggins and Helen
Lieros, and to Paul Paul and Colette Wyles for their support during the past
three decades,” Shaw said.
“We also acknowledge the support of the patrons, friends of
the Gallery Delta and the artists who have been a part of a history that spans
almost 50 years and has played out within a rich period of the visual arts of
Zimbabwe.”
Shaw said they look forward to seeing what may emerge
within the arena of the arts as the future unfolds.
“While the Gallery Delta has closed, the Foundation for the
Arts and Humanities under the Gallery Delta name remains, though it is inactive
at present and for the foreseeable future.
“I have been honoured to be a part of this institution and
am grateful to the Board of Trustees who have served the Gallery Delta
Foundation since its creation and thank them for their dedication over the past
years,” Shaw indicated.
The closure of the gallery has left a considerable hole
within the local artistic community and the Zimbabwean arts industry in
general.
Shaw added: “We acknowledge Huggins and Lieros for their
extraordinary effort in the creation and development of Gallery Delta. We
recognise the role played by Paul Paul and Colette Wiles through the gallery
where art and history have intertwined.
“We pay tribute to the great number of artists who have
emerged and thrived through the gallery, to those whose careers have flourished
beyond our borders, and to those who have remained and participated from
within, contributing to the rich Zimbabwean cultural discourse.
“We thank the multitude of patrons, donors and sponsors for
their role in supporting and nurturing the arts in Zimbabwe during these years
and are synthesis between these parts allowed not only the gallery to breathe,
but the arts with all their complexity to exist as a living phenomenon at this
space.” Newsday
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