Amagugu launches second edition of traditional home exhibition

Amagugu launches second edition of traditional home exhibition

AMAGUGU Heritage Trust on Thursday launched this year’s edition of the My Beautiful Home which is an exhibition of handmade and naturally designed traditional huts at the Bulawayo National Arts Gallery last Thursday.

This year’s competition launch was opened by a speech of one of the founder members of the exhibition who needs no introduction in the arts industry Phathisa Nyathi and then the guest of honor the Principal Director in the Ministry of Sports, Arts and Culture, Rev. Paul Bayethe Damasane.

This year’s edition is the second following its first launch which took place last year which had 30 entries from two wards in Matopo district competing for the grand prizes which consisted of ploughs, water carries, wheelbarrows, fertilizers and kitchen ware issues to outstanding competitors.

In the last competition prizes were awarded for each category such as best hut exterior as well as the best kitchen and interior design then an overall winner was chosen. Last year’s grand prize was awarded to a Matopo woman only recognized as Mrs S Ngwenya of Ward 16 for her beautifully rendered designs both on the inside and outside of the huts in her homestead.

This year’s competition will be much bigger and better compared to last year’s edition since five more wards took part making them seven for this year’s edition and last year’s exhibitions will be taken to the Harare National Arts Gallery.

The organizers of the competition, who are a group of volunteers with shared interests in the Matopos, architecture, art and culture the likes of Veronique Attala Violette KeTui, Clifford Zulu, John Knight, Dr Andre F Van Rooyen , Phathisa Nyathi and Butholezwe Nyathi funded and sponsored more interesting prizes making the competition much better.

In his speech Rev Damasane pointed out that the home stead as well as the round kitchen hut carry a lot of tradition and also says a lot about the woman of the homestead.

“In line with the famous saying that says a man build a house then a woman makes it a home the beauty of the paintings on the round kitchen huts carry family traditions, shows the mastery of the woman and also portrays the wife as a good wife and a good mother” he said.

The official photographer of the exhibition Dr Van Rooyen also articulated more concerning the beauty and originality of these huts.

“In other types of photography it is the work of the cameraman to make the content look beautiful but as for these paintings there is totally no need to make them beautiful because they are already beautiful. Everything including the paint is natural the only unnatural thing that was involved was the canon camera” he said.

IButholezwe Nyathi the Amagugu Heritage Trust programs manager said the exhibition was meant to appreciate the cultural building and decorating designs which was used by our fore fathers and mothers before the modern western designs took over.

“The My Beautiful Home exhibition was meant to recognize and reward the traditional art of decorating huts with natural pigments and also maintaining a valuable cultural practice while encouraging sustainable development.

The Amagugu Trust Fund is working on obtaining the participation of more regions in the country making the exhibition international and more interesting to honor the art on rural home which they say cannot be ignored or underestimated.