HARARE - The National Institute of Allied Arts in partnership with the National Gallery of Zimbabwe (NGZ) and Innscor Africa will be hosting the 15th annual Visual Arts Festival Schools Exhibition from the 15th to 30th of September 2012.

Doreen Sibanda director of the National Art Gallery said, “The aim of the visual Arts Festival is to inspire, challenge, encourage and develop the art work of school children across Zimbabwe.

This exhibition promotes and gives exposure to the best two and three dimensional artworks and installations produced by individual students and groups from junior and senior schools.”

This year the gallery received a record of over 2 000 entries.

The work ranges from three-year-old pre-scholars up to 18-year-old young adult category.

The nine categories are divided into junior and senior sections, with pre-scholars placed in category one, and the young adult group in category nine.

The theme for this year is “Seasons — A time for everything”.

“Students were required to explore their imaginations and try to express their creative responses.

The exhibition serves as a forum to encourage creativity in schools; to reward excellence and give schools the opportunity to view work from other schools and see the different ways in which the subject is approached.”

The official opening and prize-giving ceremony will be held on Saturday September 22 at the NGZ.

Each category will be awarded an Honours, First, Second and Third prize.
 
The prizes for the Literary Festival will also be awarded at this ceremony.

Doreen Sibanda said, “It is always an interesting showcase that reveals what art is being taught in our schools.

“It is also a good barometer of the creative uptake and the demographics associated with this. We are very excited.”

The National Institute of Allied Arts is a voluntary, non-profit organisation and relies on the support of sponsorship.

The institute will be celebrating their centennial year in 2013 and plans are underway for special events to complement four festivals that include music, speech, literary and visual arts to mark this milestone.

This is an exhibition not to be missed.

It holds something for everybody, from the uninhibited and colourful creative explorations of the junior school participants, to the more thought-provoking and resolved artworks from the senior schools.