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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
VICTORIA Falls-based fine artists say the Covid-19 pandemic has taught them to be patient as they anticipate better fortunes after the lockdown.

The portrait designers hope international travel restrictions will soon be lifted so tourists start travelling as they were their biggest customers.

Tourists visit resorts for leisure, business, wildlife viewing and sampling some activities and they buy various kinds of artefacts such as curios, traditional fabric, paintings and portraits as souvenirs.

For a year, fine art benefitted from booming tourism until the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic last year which put everything at a standstill.

Mbongeni Ndebele paints a potrait of a woman

Zamani Sibanda, a 38-year-old fine artist said passion for the trade has kept him alive during lockdown adding that he has been struggling to put food on the table for his three minor children and wife.

“The Covid-19 pandemic affected us because everything just stopped. Our main clients were tourists hence international travel restrictions meant we had no business at all,” said Sibanda, a former Mosi-oa-Tunya High School pupil.

He said he started fine art at secondary school and has been doing it for 15 years.

“I did not go to college. I did Art as a subject at school and developed myself. This is the only job I know and through it, I’ve been managing to take care of my family. But now due to the coronavirus outbreak, I’m struggling to provide for my family.

“We wish Government could avail some funds to cushion us as a sector as there’s no business. We’re just painting and stocking the portraits, hoping that one day, the industry will reopen and clients start coming. It’s better than just sitting because fine art is about passion and emotion,” said Sibanda.

He is one of a group of fine artists who operate at Art Corner at Landela Complex, where they rent an open space.

Sadly for Sibanda and others, rentals have been accruing and they fear the landlord will soon evict them.

Another fine artist, Mbongeni Ndebele, a father of two who has been in the trade for a decade said: “This is the only job I know. We’re in a wildlife area and most tourists come to see animals so when they go back, they want artefacts showing natural resources and wildlife as souvenirs. This is what we do.”

He said prices range between US$30 for an A4 portrait to about US$200 for a one square metre picture.

How much one makes depends on quantity and quality of work and on average, one could sell three pieces a day before lockdown. – @ncubeleon