Zambia’s first contemporary art centre to open this week

The Lusaka Contemporary Art Centre (LuCAC) is set to open this week, dedicated to advancing contemporary art by Zambian artists and research into Zambian arts and culture.

The Centre situated in New Chamba Valley will be opened by Sports, Youth and Arts Minister Elvis Nkandu and will house a gallery, a library and artist residenc Zambia’s first contemporary art centre to open this week

The Lusaka Contemporary Art Centre (LuCAC) is set to open this week, dedicated to advancing contemporary art by Zambian artists and research into Zambian arts and culture.

The Centre will be opened by Sports, Youth and Arts Minister Elvis Nkandu and will house a gallery, a library and artist residency.

The gallery at LuCAC will function as a laboratory for artistic experimentation, and the library will provide a space dedicated to research and the analysis of old and new knowledge and documentation.

A social room will be cater to formal and informal talks and recordings and the centre will have two private spaces reserved for hosting visiting national and international artists invited to the centre to participate in activities relating to the core values.

The centre will be open to artists of all ages and most contemporary practices whose interests coincide with those of LuCAC.

LuCAC Director Victor Mutelekesha said the Centre aims to facilitate and promote the production of new arts and culture knowledge around themes such as decolonisation, relevant histories, contemporaneity in Zambia, the region and across the world.

The inaugural exhibition for LuCAC is scheduled for Wednesday and will be curated by Art Historian Karen Reini.

Mr Mutelekesha said a special focus will be placed on nurturing emerging talent by encouraging self-awareness and respect, tolerance, critical thinking, and relentless interrogating of common histories.

“The centre will promote artistic literature (writing and publication) by documentation and curating of its activities to build a resource archive for subsequent generations,” Mr Mutelekesha said.

LuCAC’s inaugural exhibition titled Prospice, Kwacha! brings together four artists namely Banji Chona, Sana Ginwalla, Daut Makala and Germain Ngoma, each with their own hybrid Zambian identities and unique relationship with the dynamic crossroads of Lusaka.

“Prospice”, the Latin motto of Lusaka’s coat of arms meaning “look forward”, was chosen by the colonial government to signal their ambitions for the young capital’s future.

“Kwacha”, meaning “it has dawned” in several local languages, was selected by the newly independent Zambian government as a beacon on the currency of the bright days ahead for the newly formed nation.

Prospice, Kwacha! will run from 6th of January 2023 to 17th of December 2023.