The inauguration of the collective exhibition “Colecção Crescente 2022” and the “Best Future Awards” ceremony will take place on 31 March, at 5 pm, at the Kulungwana Gallery, located at CFM Station. This continues to be one of the most popular initiatives held in the country, with the presence of a large number of artists. The exhibition continues until next 6 May.
Since 2011, when the first edition was held, the “Colecção Crescente” collective exhibition has assumed increasing importance in the country’s cultural life, becoming one of the great moments of the artistic calendar and the largest showcase of national artistic creativity.
Proof of this is the ever-increasing number of participating artists. In this edition, 135 artists are present, with 301 works. The participants range from self-taught artists, young art students from different teaching institutions to renowned names in the national plastic arts, some of whom have been present in all the editions so far, using the most diverse techniques and supports.
The awarding of the three best works, by a jury of experts, with the “Best Future” Prize, granted in 2020 by the sponsor, Hollard Seguros Moçambique, has given even greater dynamism to the event.
The winners of this year’s “Best Future” Prize will be announced and awarded during the inauguration of the exhibition. The winners will have the opportunity to participate in an all-expenses-paid 5-day art workshop in South Africa to learn new artistic techniques.
In this edition, the theme chosen was the traditional and popular games in Mozambique . These vary from region to region, being practised by many different types of players, during well-defined periods of the year or according to the local agricultural calendar.
Although many of these traditional games are disappearing, especially in the urban world, due to competition from other more modern games, such as laptops and mobile phones, they are still important as “they help promote socialization, the development of coordination, balance and respect for rules and cognitive skills”.
Along with games, there are also toys, many of which are built by the children themselves, who then handle them with great enthusiasm. In this field, “creativity is immense, and children generally use the simplest materials, such as clay, sticks and wire”.
The collective exhibition, organized by Kulungwana, is curated by Mieke Oldenburg, who also curated the previous exhibitions, and has the support of Hollard Seguros Moçambique and the Norwegian Embassy.