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Down At The River Gallery
Pam Guhrs-Carr,
well known to many long term Zambians, will be holding an exhibition
at The River Gallery, Livingstone during the first week of July.
Pam was born in Malawi and raised in Zambia, in the Luangwa Valley
where her father, Norman Carr, was Game Warden and a well-known
conservationist. She grew up with an intimate knowledge of
the wildlife in the area and is a Grade 1 safari guide as well.
After obtaining her Fine Art degree in South Africa, she returned
to the Luangwa to raise and home-school her two daughters in the
bush.
Living in Luangwa's wilderness environment has formed her work on
multiple levels as she draws on its history, indigenous cultures and
bio-diversity. Interest in the art of local women's initiation
ceremonies and male masking societies has led to formal
 research
for her MA Fine Arts at the University of Witwatersrand,
Johannesburg. Her work challenges hackneyed perceptions of animals
in Africa. From western eyes that visit zoos and game reserves, to
local perceptions of animals as intrinsically linked to ancestors,
she revises the metaphors that bind humans and animals. The slave
and ivory traders that once used the Luangwa Valley as a route to
Zanzibar and the East, populate her paintings along with owls,
hyenas and gazing tourists. Spirit, transformation and secrecy
entwine with notions of animals as a commodity.
Pam has exhibited her work in Zambia, Botswana, Kenya, South
Africa, USA and London, as well as having some pieces forming part
of the collections in museums and private art collections
internationally. Some of her work has also been auctioned by
Christies in London. 
This exhibition runs from 29 June to 8 July, so if you are visiting
Livingstone over the long weekend, do take the time to stop in at
the River Gallery at Falls Park Shopping Centre. |
July
2007