From Luveve to Cambridge

THE KIZITO ARTS MOVEMENT

"I am what I am because of who we all are." - Leymah Gbowee

Welcome to the world of the controversial and provocative Artist Patson Ncube and his fascinating new project - The KIZITO Arts Movement.
 
The KIZITO Arts Movement is a large collective of artists, this is an expansive and varied family, the very backbone of the project, though, lies buried deep in the complex and compelling works of the collective's founder - Zimbabwean Artist Patson Ncube.
 
"How do I explain Ubuntu? It is everything. Everywhere. Ubuntu is what it means to be human. It is working together, creating together, surviving together."
 
Patson Ncube has been making provocative, political, richly spiritual paintings for many years. A graduate of Westminster School of Art and Cambridge University,  he has squatted in London warehouses, campaigned outside government buildings and taught Art at various different levels across the western world. However, always at the very heart of his work the concept or philosophy of 'Ubuntu' has remained central.

'Ubuntu' is an illusive and expansive African philosophy mysteriously devoid of a tangible origin, discussed by a wealth of leading political figures, from Desmond Tutu to Nelson Mandela, and embodying all the invaluable virtues that society strives for, clasping for harmony and the spirit of sharing among it's members.

'Ubuntu' essentially promotes an altruistic ethic, a way of life that requires constant selflessness, constant understanding of your surroundings and of your fellow human beings.
 
It is this fascinating concept, this idea that "United we stand, divided we fall" that clearly excites Ncube. He discusses the concept with a gleam in his eye and the sort of thoughtful eloquence one would expect having observed the intellectual complexities of his work.

Ncube's work typically combines these bold rebellious observations about Religion and Racism with a strong personal narrative, weaving African history, attractively abstract colour schemes and wonderfully simplistic designs with an immediate sense of spirituality, seemingly portraying one man's journey into his past and surroundings and often evoking a sense of disbelief and incredulousness upon arriving at his destination.
 
Ncube's work has undoubtedly undergone an evolution of sorts, from his early works that were clearly  voicing a very angry, very critical take on his surroundings, to his more ambiguous, more spiritual works in recent years, he explains, "Coming from where I come from, Zimbabwe, looking at my early work... I was very angry.

It was just something I never understood, that someone could not only discriminate but that they couldn't possibly co-exist with me, just because of the colour of my skin or where I come from, it made me crazy. I thought I was going mad, I was always thinking 'What the f**k?'"
 
Thankfully, though his work is more quietly observant nowadays, it still retains this air of disbelief, this 'What the f**k?' sensibility and it's this combined with his understanding of 'Ubuntu' philosophy that provides the backbone to the incredibly varied KIZITO Arts Movement exhibitions that begin on the 7th of July at 'Cafe Julienne' on Regents Street, in Cambridge.
 
At the heart of the exhibition is the idea of unity. The sense that the collective is more important than the individual, and fittingly, Ncube has gathered an unusually varied community of Artists who will be contributing to the series of KIZITO Art exhibitions, set to descend upon several locations in Cambridge, before travelling to Brighton and then later in the year, showing at various London galleries and spaces.

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