he was born dead…
he was born dead, or so they all thought, with hardly any breathing or noticeable movement of limb, the little was covered in faeces. the baby had defecated in the mother’s womb, after all he had been born at ten months, and the mother had endured almost nineteen hours of intensive labor pains with only a wet cloth on her brow as pain relief. by now, too weak to force the baby out, she collapsed and the midwife had to literally tear the uterus in order to let the baby out. after abandoning the ‘stillborn’ child in a metal dish, all attention was given to the mother who was barely breathing. but soon enough, the attention of the midwife and other relatives who had gathered to witness the birth was arrested by the sounds of the abandoned baby in the metal dish. it could have been the harsh metal contacting his fragile skin that could have vitalized his organs and kick started his little heart. but to this day no one really knows what ignited the presumed dead baby to life, for there were no medical practitioners or sophisticated machines to record, let alone assist the helpless ‘poor’ mother and child.
it was only after this grueling act of childbirth that mother and child were placed in a wheel barrow and pushed a mile uphill to the nearest hospital. without reliable records from the institution, no-one really knows when he was born. according to the hospital they administered care to mother and son on the nineteenth of august 1976, but according to the mother, she vividly remembers the Ôsevere joyousÕ day as the nineteenth of september 1978. mother and son had to stay in the intensive care unit for the next nine months, receiving no visitors for the first three. doctors were convinced neither would survive, especially the mother who, coupled with a ballooning high blood pressure, had also contracted numerous complications and infections from the unorthodox operation conducted by a seventy six year old midwife using razor blades that were not sterilized in a poorly lit mud hut. but again, even the learned doctors were proved wrong. it seemed there was a mystical and peculiar being, a mighty and omnipotent force invisible to natural man that was administering favor and divine care to both mother and child.
"i will name my son ndapfidza", which means i have suffered enough, were the first words uttered by dorcas after ninety days of breathing through machines. a wise and kind uncle, who was also a chief and had been present from the difficult pregnancy to the present moment interjected and stated "this child is indeed a blessing from God, his birth was miraculous and so shall be the days of his life, he is destined for greatness, his name will be "nyaradzaisandiraiishe", which means the one who comforts, soothes all pain and born to serve the Lord. however, this twenty one letter name was to be no more part of his life than the registry at harare hospital where it appeared. he would be forever affectionately known as nya'.
he was born on the nineteenth day of september, the year of our Lord, nineteen seventy eight, in harare, zimbabwe
education
growing up in a conformed society and yet consumed with an insatiate appetite for transformation, nya’ was forced to look within for inspiration. upon completing high school, he worked as a car salesman, and after thoroughly being decapitated by the monotonous routine of a daily job, nya’ decided to quit in order to prepare his portfolio, a required entity to the only graphic design school in zimbabwe, amidst opposition from family members. spending at least eighteen hours everyday sitting on his makeshift desk, in a shabbily constructed sixteen by sixteen foot ‘house’ made of abandoned rotten plywood, with temperatures soaring above 100 degrees, and occasional storms flooding his ‘kennel’ and threatening to tear the roof wide open, the artist perfected his drawing skills and zealously worked despite the inhuman living conditions. decent drawing paper was a luxury, and nya’ had to paint on either used cardboard boxes, borrow newspapers from visiting relatives, or at times, if very lucky, pick up papers or some form of drawing surface from dustbins and trash yards. even grocery invoices glued together were a delicacy and provided adequate canvas to use for the more refined drawings.
against all adversity, and with hardly any formal training because the average schools he had attended did not provide art as a subject, considering it as either a waste of time, or a bourgeoisie discipline reserved for private institutions, nya’ was admitted at the reputable harare polytechnic graphic arts and school of design in 1995. looking back in retrospect, with tears in his eyes, and a sincere heart of gratitude, nya’ humbly acknowledges that it was by grace, the divine force that had taken him thus far, that opened the lecturers eyes to see the burning desire within him, , for his mere talent was not a match to the thousands of applicants who had either studied from reputable art academies or came from affluent backgrounds.
however, design school became a battle field for the budding artist, with limited resources and surviving on meager government loans. nya’ was undoubtedly the worst student and had to prove his mettle against seasoned students. years of solitude, lack of exposure and deprivation showed in his work, which lacked coherence, confidence and seemed to wonder in multiple directions. however, it was his best friend, mentor and counselor, the artist mother, affectionately known as "shumba", which means the lion, who continuously fueled nya’ with words of encouragement, seeds of hope and the language of faith that propelled the almost wounded spirit to new horizons.
discarding all elementary rules which had been alien to him all his life, but was trying frantically to emulate in order to conform to the standards of his peers, nya’ found solace in using unorthodox materials, which have become the cornerstone of his work, though much to the disdain of some of his teachers. withdrawn and a perpetual misfit, nya’ devoted at least twenty hours to his work, two hours to converse with "shumba" and only two hours to sleep every day, a schedule he has religiously followed to this day. his work began to adorn a unique and rich flavor, revealing intense maturity, creativity and discipline.
in 1998, he was unanimously selected as the best student, obtained a first class degree in graphic design with a minor in fine art, a rare honor that accorded him the privilege of studying in south africa, further broadening his gaze.
exhibitions
nya’ held his first exhibition in april 1999 at the harare international festival of the arts (h.i.f.a) at the national gallery of zimbabwe and received a distinction award in the artist of tomorrow category.
in december , he exhibited in the m. b. c. a.(a leading regional bank) decade of award winners and received an unprecedented merit award for outstanding work in the overall painting category, a remarkable achievement for a young artist since this award was reserved for mature and renowned artists.
in april 2000 (h. i. f. a.) once again invited nya’ and reserved the main gallery for exclusively his work. he was accorded a merit for his painting ‘drums of revolution’ and spent three weeks conducting workshops.
in september, nya’ exhibited in a group show at delta gallery, mozambique. he spent the following month teaching art at an orphanage in maputo, an experience which elevated his mind to new horizons.
in february 2001, nya’s painting ‘ faces of dictatorship’ was chosen as the center piece for an exhibition entitled color of africa in the city of munich, germany.
in june, nya’s exhibition entitled ‘ancient voices’ at mutupo gallery in ghana was sold out before opening night, it featured one of his most ‘moving’ painting entitled ‘ language of the soul’ a painting in remembrance of two great artists, hillary kashiri and louis meque, who died of aids after returning with nya’ from the germany exhibition.
in 2002, raphael, an acclaimed curator included nya’s painting ‘melancholy of a blue day’ at the biennial in italy, the exhibition was a resounding success which invited world collectors to zimbabwe.
in december 2005, nya’ was invited by leslie powell, a profound new york art curator and consultant to be part of an exhibition honoring the first female african president, serleef johnson of liberia. his paintings, custodians of inheritance and spiritual purifiers were received with great accolades.
in february 2006, nya’ was invited to exhibit at the 10th anniversary national black fine arts show held at the puk building in new york city. this is one of the biggest event on the calendar year that brings together the most celebrated black artists from around the world. one of his paintings, spiritual purifiers was selected to appear in the exhibition catalogue.
solo exhibitions
in november 2001, nya held his first solo exhibition entitled ‘index of perpetuality’ at sugarloaf gallery in harare. the three storey immaculate gallery became his second home, devoted to showing exclusively nya’s work.
in december 2002, nya’s collection entitled ‘infinity of purpose’ was sold out three weeks prior to opening night of the exhibition. it featured one of his biggest painting to date, 28 feet by 12 feet entitled ‘field of dreams’.
in june 2003, nya’s private collection was exhibited in capetown, south africa, to launch the ‘nelson mandela fund’. his painting ‘virgin love’ was auctioned for $35 000 and all the money was donated to aid the building of an orphanage in alexander township, a densely populated high density surburb in south africa
in october 2003, nya held his last exhibition before leaving for america. the collection was entitled ‘ethereal of times’, a powerful body of work which prophetically spoke of the birth of a dictatorship in his homeland.
in june 2004, nya held his first exhibition in new york entitled ‘journey to my roots’ sponsored by a boutique investment firm, musa capital advisors, at gelarbeti studio gallery. the collection of 13 paintings took over 1260 days to complete, with the artist not permitting anyone in his studio except his mother whilst working on any of the pieces in the collection.
in february 2005, nya’ held his first exhibition entitiled ‘a letter to i-mortal souls’ at s.e.e.dgallery, the new official residence of his work. the collaboration of works spoke of a dire need for man to escape the prison of fear that deduces us to conformity, crucifying our virtues of confidence and faith, by which, without, we are mere shadows.
in december 2005, nya’ held an exhibition entitiled ‘language of faith’, hosted by the uptown movie network and the wall street to hollywood fund, an organization dedicated to raising funds for needy students. the show was a resounding success with the money raised being donated to the fund.
in september 2006, nya’ held an exhibition entitled vowels of faith at s.e.e.d gallery. this body of work speaks of the power of belief, and the mystery of faith, the only acceptable currency towards realizing one,s purpose and fulfillment in life. the opening of the exhibition coincided with the dumbo arts festival, a three day event that attracts over 250 000 people to brooklyn, the entire collection was sold out.
in december 2006, dr. michael jones, a leading plastic surgeon in new york and his precious wife, cathleen trigg-jones opened their home and hosted a private exhibition for nya’. the paintings for the show were selected by the artist and were all strung together by one common denominator, the power of belief.
selected museums, public and private collections
national museum and archives, harare, zimbabwe
pierre gallery, marseilles, france
evereed gallery, johannesburg, south africa
museum of fine art, cape town, south africa
national gallery, harare, zimbabwe
karo'line gallery, london, england
stanbic bank. harare, zimbabwe
world health organization, sandton, south africa
k.p.m.g. offices, london, england
musa capital advisors, sandton, south africa
schwarts gallery, munich, germany
mutupo gallery, accra, ghana
delta gallery, mozambique
g. t hessel pole collection, new york
t. u akerele collection, zurich, switzerland
a g parsons collection, melbourne, australia
doctor naik patel private collection, toronto, canada
k. delko collection, new york
s. hyman & d. horwitz private collection, sacramento
renee fahad, private collection, los angeles
j. goldberg private collection, new york
bonita a. burrell private collection, new york
kendrick and mashea ashton private collection, new york
jackson and ann dykman private collection, new york
asake bomani glover private collection, san francisco
cathleen trigg-jones and doctor michael jones private collection, new york
khephra burns and susan l. taylor private collection, new york
phylli elias private collection, san francisco
george bailey private collection, new york
commissions
sheraton hotels and towers, southern africa, 2000
sugarloaf villa, harare, zimbabwe, 2000
d.m.h legal firm, london, england, 2001
cresta hotels, southern africa, 2002
old mutual, london, england, 2003
intermarket holdings, harare, zimbabwe, 2003
rennaissance bank, stuggart, germany, 2003
david's den, mount pleasant, scotland, 2003
ashton residence, 70 washington condominium, new york, 2006
sir oliver and lady ambrose, edinburgh, scotland, 2006
selected bibliography; articles and other texts
parade, "roots of greatness" harare, 1999
grazi forum "the sixth day" south africa 1999
the herald "authenticity and wisdom", harare, 2000
the gallery no. 28 "mythical journeys ", maputo, 2000
sunday times "soul of insipiration", london, 2001
the tribune "fertile inheritance", berlin, 2003
touch art magazine "from piccasso to nya'sso", london, 2003
gallery and studio "protest and roots", new york, 2004
black fine arts show magazine, february, new york, 2005
black fine arts show magazine, february, new york, 2006