Gaddiel Maps's video: Wild Geese Art Festival 2019 : Over 100 artists all over Zimbabwe

Wild Geese Art Festival 2019 Here’s to another successful Art Festival! As the sun rose in the chilly winter air, at approximately 6am on Sunday 2 June 2019 the Wild Geese Lodge Team welcomed artists from all over Zimbabwe, some who had queued from 4am! The gardens at Royal Msasa at Wild Geese Lodge had been carefully demarcated with an area for each artist and they all rushed in to secure their space. This year (our 8th Art Festival) more artists made a special effort to bring display materials to showcase their work. 155 Artists attended and we are delighted to report that USD$43,200 worth of artwork was sold! Approximately 6 000 people came through the gate and we collected USD$6,190 in donations which will be divided equally between the two charities we have supported this year. They were: Vimba- The name ' Vimba ' translates to mean ‘hope’ in the native language Shona. They are focused on raising funds to assist a number of designated projects throughout Zimbabwe. They are presently assisting victims affected by the cyclone Idai in the Chimanimani area. They are slowly rebuilding a school in a town called Kopa in the Rusitu Valley which was hit tragically by the cyclone. Friend Animal Foundation- their aim is to not only continue, but improve their facility in order to provide sanctuary for the waifs and strays, the unwanted and the surrendered domestic animals of Harare and environs. Furthermore, they strive to be the model NO KILL animal shelter in Zimbabwe. To mount an exhibition of this size it requires a dedicated team and the expenses are considerable. Wild Geese Lodge give Art Festival the venue free of charge, we are also grateful to other very generous sponsors: Rooneys Zimbabwe Sounds Vantastic Events Steward Bank Vaya Africa Garfunkels Kia Motors Zimbabwe // Croco Motors Safeguard Zimbabwe Paragon Printing & Packaging Shuttle Direct Winsor & Newton Carlisle Nigel DjMaxy McNeilage Steel Warehouse The Exhibition within the Exhibition was judged by Peter Kaunda (Pee Em Kay) , Esther Ilsink-Steijn and Sue Chadwick Jewellery. The winners were: Best Painting- Simbarashe Vengai Machona Best Sculpture- Shingirai Madzongwe Best New Artist- Owen Maseko Most Unusual Work- Talentkapadza Kapadza Best on Show- Aubrey Bango Each of the painters received a gift voucher for art materials from Winsor & Newton and the sculptor a toolbox & Sculpting tools. The 5 X ZWL$200.00 prizes were sponsored by Curverid Tobacco, Electro Mechanico, Halsted Builders Express, Sandvik Mining Equipment and Kingsmead Guest House- Harare. The prizes were presented by Dr Soloman Guramatunhu. This year the subject for the Painting Demonstration was the new red Kia Motors Zimbabwe Sportage vehicle, sixteen artists treated the public to a 15 minute display of their skills. It is a fun event and the results were spontaneous, colorful and creative. The completed paintings were for sale for US$20.00 and the proceeds went to the charities, The Friend Animal Foundation and Vimba. The canvas, brushes and acrylic paints were generously supplied by Richard Conlon the agent for Winsor & Newton. Thank you to I Am Kingzw who started the day off with his saxophone tunes then the band Marinade Live Music OutFit blew us away with their talented live music for the remainder of the day. Thank you to TinoNyandoro Photography and PictureHubZim for doing our professional photos of the day, they truly captured what Art Festival is all about. Thank you to Gaddiel Maps and Rob Macson who did the videoing of the day and editing the amazing after videos of Art Festival 2019. It was a spectacular display of our highly talented Zimbabwean artists and an uplifting experience for all. We cannot wait for Art Festival 2020! We will keep you updated!