Creative Defiance
“I didn’t mean to be an activist, I was just very angry.”
Blue light from the projector cuts over Chaz Maviyane-Davies’ face as he moves, gesturing toward the screen that displays one of his graphic art images from the Zimbabwean elections. His hair is in short dreadlocks and he sports black glasses and a trim graying gotee.
There is nothing about him to indicate that he is the man who unwittingly fueled a revolution on his home computer, that he openly defied the dictator who murdered 20,000 of his innocent countrymen, that he is the creator of this image:
It is provocative, but benign enough here in an auditorium in America where pictures of celebrity babies sell for $14 million. But in Zimbabwe — where Maviyane-Davies created this image during the 2000 Zimbabwean presidential elections — it could mean death.
“The original symbol and current nickname for the ruling party is ‘Jongwe’, which means cockerel,” Maviyane-Davies writes on his website. This image—like the others Maiyane-Davies has made– mocks and defies the authority of the Jongwe party and its murderous leader, Robert Mugabe.
“I wanted to live a comfortable life, to do my work and come home to my family,” Maviyane-Davies says from the lectern. “But I realized that I had a voice and I had to use it, and where it went after that I couldn’t control.”
Where it went was all over the world.
During the elections — in which Mugabe’s party brutalized members of the opposition, tortured and killed citizens, and attempted to silence the press — Maviyane-Davies would generate graphic art. He e-mail it to a list of 300 people, who would forward them to the people on their own lists, who forwarded them until there were copies on every continent.
For the outside world, they became a means of knowing what was really going on in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe.
“The Bulawayo Offices of The Daily News — Zimbabwe’s independent and leading daily paper — were petrol-bombed today (11 February 2002) around 3 in the morning. The printing press of Daily Press … [that] printed campaign materials for the opposition Movement For Democratic Change, were also bombed.”
Robert Mugabe defied the European Union two days ago, announcing that its observers would not be allowed to monitor Zimbabwe’s presidential election.
For Zimbabweans, these images became a flashpoint of defiance. They would use them as screen-savers in their offices, print them, post them, drive to rural areas and throw them out the windows of moving cars, in terror of getting caught.
From his home computer, Chaz Maviyane-Davies had accidentally launched a movement. His daily image updates had become an act of devotion and courage … and a safety measure.
“I told the people on the list, ‘If you don’t get an image one day, that means something happened to me.’”
“The conical tower at Great Zimbabwe is the symbol of our beloved country. The plane is emblazoned with the name and insignia of the ruling party.”
Maviyane-Davies has been forced to leave his beloved homeland. He lives in America, where he lectures and teaches graphic art.
Mugabe continues to torment the Zimbabwean people. But he does not have the ability to silence them as dictators once did.
No dictator will ever have that power in the same way again.
Pundits and old school newsmen lament that the Internet has brought about the death of newspapers, and may soon kill the traditional news room.
But this is not the death of journalism. It is the beginning of the Renaissance.
These images are reproduced with permission from Chaz Maviyane-Davies’ website: www.maviyane.com. I strongly recommend visiting to see his art, and to gain insight into what is happening in this beautiful African land.
August 7th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Thank you for sharing this with us. Brave man-and beautiful, powerful images.
August 8th, 2008 at 5:08 am
Powerful images. Thank you for sharing and hopefully one day there will be a free Zimbabwe.
August 8th, 2008 at 8:13 am
Not at all what I expected to read on your blog this morning but it is so important that I’m glad I did. Those images are absolutely stunning and the situation in Zimbabwe truly saddens as well as angers me. Thank you for sharing this with us readers.
August 8th, 2008 at 8:42 am
So glad you shared this on your blog. I have spent time in Zimbabwae and it is so tragic what is happening in this beautiful country. Maviyane- Davies is an amazing man
August 8th, 2008 at 9:10 am
It is good to remember, as I fret about the disgusting Bush regime and count the days until its end, that it is nothing, nothing to this atrocity, that we here are largely (some minorities are still harassed, but do not generally fear for their lives when it comes time to vote) free to vote as we wish….
August 8th, 2008 at 11:19 am
As frustrated as I get with things here, I can hardly imagine what the people of Zimbabwe go through on a daily basis. A very thought provoking post, I appreciate it!
August 8th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Wow, these are amazing!!!
August 8th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Wow. Just wow! Those are such powerful images. Thank you!
August 8th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Wow! I’ve been following Zimbabwe’s problems, but I hadn’t heard about this man. What an amazing thing.
It’s one of the reasons I get so frustrated with people who don’t vote. It may get tedious listening to the months of debates and mud slinging, but at least we have the right to make an informed decision and go out and safely vote.
Thanks for sharing this.
August 8th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Incredible images! Thanks for sharing this, I’m off to click that link above.
August 9th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Wow.
Thank you.
Please thank him, for us (at least for Fearless Husband and me) if you happen to speak to him.
August 10th, 2008 at 11:51 am
I think Chaz is reading the comments, so anything you’ve said to him, he’s read for himself!
August 10th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Wow - beautiful art and a very powerful message. Thank you for sharing this - I’ve been thinking about this since you posted this a couple of days ago — it is so easy to take our freedom for granted. What an incredible message. Thank you.