BY KIMBERLY KARIATI RISING female poet and visual artist Lindsay Musonza says she uses her artefacts to communicate with and connect various communities. Speaking to NewsDay Life & Style, the visual communication and multimedia designs student at Chinhoyi University of Technology said she was happy to have followed her passion and nurtured the talent to be an artist she is today. “My career began when I started performing at Vainona High School in Harare when I was doing my Ordinary Level. I later started looking for other platforms and went to poetry slams and open mic sessions,” she said. “I have managed to take my artefacts to social media platforms such as YouTube to share them so that the literature can be traced for many to find and read. I have also had my work such as Numbers and Tears of the Nation published by a London-based company Worldwide View and ZimThrive has published some of my poems such as Homecoming and Why Visit Zimbabwe, and I have submitted my artwork at local galleries such as Veranda and Gallery Delta.” While the arts industry is male-dominated, the 21-year-old artist believes female poets have been accorded the much-needed space to showcase their talents. “Women have been given a chance to showcase their talents and it is now my duty to carry the power within me and declare my rightful place in this world. I believe art is about who we are and it is about how people relate to your content. Poetry is not popular, but the impact one makes and I hope I have managed to touch my followers' lives and hearts,” she said. Musonza said she wished to reach a wider audience and extend her knowledge of art to film production. “I feel like women have been emancipated into the corporate world and I have seen that as a platform to spread my wings into scripting and use of the knowledge I have acquired by making short films. I might be young, but I cannot wait to share my vision with the world and make a different kind of poetry delivery,” she said. “I have used some of my poems such as Honey to engage with Health Dorcas, a charity organisation in the fight against drug abuse and mental health issues and I have been part of their seminars too.” Musonza has performed at a number of events such as Mbare Art Prescient (2020), Lafarge Poetry Slam (2020) hosted by Alpha Media Holdings’ Heart and Soul online radio, Instwala festival (2019) and was also featured in the Unspoken Magazine in 2020 with her poem Kink in my Hair.
