RADAR: Galleries

“But will anyone actually come and buy anything?” The familiar refrain of any art curator anxiously awaiting the opening of their first exhibition. It was definitely a thought that crossed the mind of Anna Fleming, founder of Harare’s famous Verandah Gallery, and the powerhouse behind its annual art exhibitions, latterly known as ”Art In Spring”, and the show’s accompanying cards and calendars.

But Anna needn’t have worried: this year she’s celebrating the 25th anniversary of her calendar and art-inspired collection of gifts. Sustaining and maintaining a credible business in Zimbabwe is tricky at the best of times, so a quarter-century of trading is no mean feat given this country’s turbulent economic history. But Anna’s success is testament to her strength and resilience, and her resolve to use her skills to help others.

It’s not just the artists she’s championed over the years who have benefited from Anna’s determination. The Verandah Gallery itself was born out of a fundraising idea to support the Emerald Children’s Home in Harare, a sanctuary for orphaned and vulnerable children, many of whom have been abandoned by their parents, and suffered neglect and abuse. Thanks in part to Anna’s support, Emerald Children’s Home continues to support over 90 children throughout their childhood and early education, right into training for life after graduation.

After moving to the area in 1986, Anna joined Emerald Hill’s Fundraising Committee, and one year it decided an art show would be a good fundraising idea. “I went home and I sat on my verandah,” says Anna, “and I thought, ‘I’ve got this nice verandah, why don’t I have the exhibition here?’” And so, in 1992, the Verandah Gallery Charity Art Exhibition was born. In its first year, Anna welcomed 400 visitors through her garden gate; by the final exhibition in 2019, “Art In Spring” had become a staple event on Harare’s social calendar, attracting over 1,000 people coming to see, and buy, the best of Zimbabwe’s art, with 25 per cent of each sale going directly to the Emerald Hill Children’s Home and the Emerald Hill School for the Deaf.

With her gallery and art show well underway, Anna launched her first collection of postcards in 1998, all featuring pictures from Zimbabwean artists who had exhibited in the shows. The cards were an instant hit, and Anna decided to turn the Verandah Gallery and its products into an actual business. “One morning I woke up at 3am and thought, ‘I wonder if I can go full-time?’ I’ve never made a decision so quickly in my life! Usually, if you’re going to dramatically change your life you call your friends for their opinion over endless cups of coffee, but I didn’t ring anyone. I just went into work the next day and gave them three months’ notice.”

Her former employer’s loss was Zimbabwe’s artists’ gain. Many of this country’s finest painters — Daryl Nero, Barry Lungu, Sheena Chadwick, David Chinyama, Charles Nkomo, Dian Wright, to name just a few — have featured on Anna’s calendars and cards; their prints and designs have travelled the world on tea towels, been the wrapping paper for many a gift, and continue to be a bestseller around Harare, Bulawayo and Victoria Falls.

Anna still sells prints directly from her famous verandah, and there is no better place to view Zimbabwe’s magnificent art than in the leafy garden, among Harare’s verdant trees, soundtracked by beautiful birdsong. The effect of Anna’s generosity — opening the doors to her home, welcoming artists and the public every year onto her verandah — will be felt for many years to come. We will feel it through the paintings we hang on our walls, the cards we send to our friends, the days we tick off on our calendars; and it will be felt by all the children who have had the course of their lives changed by Emerald Hill. That is the best review any exhibition curator could ever possibly get.

The Verandah Gallery, 16 Woodholme Road, Harare. By appointment only.
Call: +263 772 307 772.
Email: info@verandahgallery.co.zw
Visit: www.verandahgallery.co.zw

Words by Milly McPhie

HOME IS WHERE THE ART IS

HOME IS WHERE
THE ART IS