Africville
was a black community within the city of Halifax,
inhabited by approximately four hundred people,
comprising eight families. The original Africville
settlers were former residents of the refugee
settlements at Preston and Hammond Plains who moved
to Africville in order to escape the economic
hardships encountered on rocky and barren land. The
refuge settlements were made up of the many blacks
that had come to Nova Soctia over several
centuries. Local tradition of almost every
interviewed resident of Africville believed that
Africville had been founded by former slaves from
the United States. In 1964, the city of Halifax
began Africville’s relocation. Although the
relocation was said to be a humanitarian effort to
alleviate the socio-economic depression in
Africville, many claim the relocation plan had more
to do with removing the eyesore Africville had come
to be, rather than a genuine attempt to improve the
lives of its residents
Although
Africville is no more, it still thrives in the
hearts and minds of many of the relocated. The
sense of the family, community and continuity
associated with Africville is the spirit we would
like to honour in our venture. Continued efforts to
"keep it alive and pass it along" through song and
summer gatherings in the park that now stands where
Africville once stood, shows the spirit of their
survival as a community. Zimbabweans in the
diaspora struggle to preserve their sense of
identity, when their community identity no longer
defines their existence. In Zimbabwe, the effects
of historical colonialism and contemporary
globalisation hurt our confidence and success as a
nation in a critical way today. We must embrace our
cultural identity in order to help ourselves.
Whether through music, painting, weaving, or
sculpting, art is a beautiful way to do this.
Artists celebrate our unique identity through music
that reflects the changes in their communities, and
remains strongly founded in our long and rich
history of making music. Batik painters provide a
lense by which outsiders can view form and colour
from the Zimbabwean's perspective. Sculptors create
one-of-a-kind forms using only hand tools, working
stone from the hills of the Great Dkye, an ancient
volcanic ridge that runs through the middle of our
great country.