The National Gallery has set itself as a center for national culture, which may inject various influences into the mainstreams of life and change the way people appreciate art and culture in their various societies through stone, metal and wooden sculptures, paintings, drawings, print works and installations.
The Gallery is responsible for circulating exhibitions throughout Zimbabwe and is a focal and distributing point for art in the country. Its core business is also to preserve, conserve, research and publish the artworks collections for the education of present and future generations of Zimbabwe. The Gallery provides education through the National Gallery Visual Arts Studios (NGVAS) and also holds educational workshops, films and lectures within the Gallery as a way of promoting and educating the public about visual arts.
The Gallery offers the corporate community and other civic organizations the opportunity to hire artworks from the Permanent Collection for decoration of their premises. These institutions can also hire space for private functions, exhibitions and shows. Interested people are welcome to use the Thomas Meikle Library to provide research and interest facilities.
The National Gallery of Zimbabwe has been in existence for almost 60 years, and in its lifetime has witnessed the dramatic shift in the country from colonialism to independence. In addition, it has been central to the meteoric rise of Zimbabwean artists in the world art market.
The Gallery was initially planned in the 1930s, but the outbreak of the Second World War impeded the colonial government’s involvement in its progress. However, the idea was given new life when in 1943, Sir James McDonald, a friend and colleague of Cecil John Rhodes,left a bequest of 30,000 pounds “in trust for the people of the colony”to establish an art gallery and art museum in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia. At the end of 1953, the Inaugural Board of the Gallery was established, chaired by the Governor of Southern Rhodesia. The passing of the National Gallery Act of Parliament in early 1952 saw the dissolution of the Inaugural Board and the establishment of the Board of Trustees.
Search for National Gallery of Zimbabwe Job Vacancies