THE recently established Avac Arts Gallery at Victoria Falls International Airport has been named the best art gallery in resort town.
Established two years ago, the gallery, which mostly deals in sculpture, has been attracting a lot of domestic and foreign tourists.
Live sculpting by seasoned visual artists and a blooming botanical garden has seen the gallery being credited for adding lustre to the Victoria Falls Airport,making it one of the best places to be for both departures and arrivals in the town.
Trip Advisor, a reputable website that recommends activities and destinations for tourists around the globe, named Avac Arts the best gallery in Victoria Falls this year, while it was ranked number seven out of 23 on the list of things to do while visiting the resort town.
Avac Arts director Terrence Musiyiwa said the recommendation is an endorsement that the gallery is growing. "We evolved from sorely trading online to establishing a physical space in Victoria Falls just two years ago," he said.
"Being recommended by Trip Advisor is a big endorsement. It means we are doing something right, given that they are art spaces that have been in business way before us."
Avac Arts leads the pack in the top five that comprises Tami Walker Gallery, Prime Art Gallery, Kumbirai Kako's store and Tich the Watchman's Art Gallery.
It deals with over 100 artists drawn across Zimbabwe.
The gallery sponsors sculptors with raw materials and buys sculptures for resale on local and international markets. It has been on the forefront of sponsoring female sculptors, equipping them to compete in a male-dominated sector.
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Musiyiwa said the endorsement is testament that given the chance, they can do wonders in the sector.
"We have applied for space from City of Harare in the past and we are yet to get it," he said.
"What we have done with the little space rented to us by the Airports Company of Zimbabwe, thanks for their support, is testament of what we are capable of given space.
"We are hoping to get land in Harare to accommodate some of our artists evicted from a private space they were renting along Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Road in Hatfield, and a bigger space in Victoria Falls.
"We call on councillors to consider us when allocating land for arts and culture development."
Sculptors working under Zimbabwe Stone Sculptors Association were last month evicted from number 66 Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Road, leaving them with no space to operate from. Some of the artists have been working with Avac Arts over the years.
