Women artists celebrate Women’s History Month at the U.S. Embassy

An artist from Bulawayoshows some of her work

March 6th 2007: The U.S. Embassy has dedicated this year’s “Women’s History Month” to recognizing the creativity and ingenuity of Zimbabwean women by unveiling an exhibition by top women artists drawn from the country’s major cities, Harare and Bulawayo.

The textile, paint and sculptor exhibition starts on Monday March 12th at the Embassy’s Public Affairs Section Auditorium in East-gate.

The exhibition will feature internationally acclaimed American textile artist Saaraliisa Ylitalo, and eleven women artists from Bulawayo and thirteen based in Harare.

Included in the exhibition are female painters and sculptors from Harare include Florence James, Doreen Sibanda, Agnes Nyanhongo, Portia Zvavahera and Virginia Chihota. They will be joined by their counterparts from Bulawayo who include names such as Shamilla Aasha, Stella Ndebele, Sikhulile Sibanda and Primrose Tshuma, among others.

Ylitalo will March 22nd conduct a two-day workshop for the women artists at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe. The workshop will explore several mixed media techniques in fabric printing. Workshop participants will take fabric and fortify it with paper, color it, embellish it, sew on it and finally put various pages together in book form. Ylitalo's work is about victimization, and body image as well as a very personal approach to creativity.

Ylitalo

Ylitalo received her BA in Spanish and Art from Lawrence University, Wisconsin and received an MA in Fine Arts from Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ., M.A. in May 1997. Some of her selected exhibitions include 2007 Secrets- Surface Design Association Conference- Kansas City, Mo. (2007), Man + Woman Creation- Women in Textile Art– Notha American Costa Rican Cultural Center- San Jose, Costa Rica (2006). # # #

PAS 2007/010