The 2022 exhibition Go Nature Go brought artists, poets and musicians together at the Natural History Museum in Bulawayo around the urgency of wildlife conservation.
Organised by the George Mgona Art for Conservation Trust with the museum and Zimbabwe’s Environmental Management Agency, the month-long exhibition was the second edition of the project.
Several media speaking for threatened species
The display included acrylic and oil painting, graphite, charcoal, photography, pastel and watercolour. These different approaches allowed artists to examine wildlife through observation, symbolism and emotional response.
Thirteen-year-old Kyle Ashborne was the youngest participating artist. He described the exhibition as an opportunity to develop his practice while learning more about conservation.
Poetry and music extended the event beyond the visual works. Mbalenhle Khumalo and Madalitso performed poems about wildlife preservation, while Emmanuel Mgona and Weellie contributed a song intended to give voice to species unable to speak for themselves.
Art as an argument for behavioural change
Hlengisizwe Khumalo, a research fellow in wildlife management at the National University of Science and Technology, used the opening address to connect art with environmental responsibility.
He argued that air, water, trees, wildlife and other natural resources required active protection. Art could support that effort by creating emotion and changing how people perceived endangered species and habitats.
Go Nature Go did not separate cultural activity from conservation. Painting, poetry and song became ways of making ecological loss visible and of asking whether artists representing wildlife also carried a responsibility toward its survival.