As one of the CCAC committee members Sharon Waterworth welcomed the guests of honour, HIA staff, parents and students to the first in a series of HIA Art Talks. She explained that the Art Talks are being organised by the CCAC that was established in October 2010 with the mandate of lifting the profile of the arts at the school, the committee comprises of HIA staff and parents. Sharon added that CCAC were delighted that Helen Lieros had agreed to undertake the inaugural Art Talk especially as well as being an established professional artist and educationalist Helen Lieros has a special relationship with HIA.

These images are taken from the first of our Art Talks, made by the artist Helen Lieros, who spoke of her murals in the Greek Orthodox Church of St Michael and St Gabriel, in Maputo, Mozambique.

Introduction to Helen Lieros

Greg Shaw took great pleasure in introducing Helen Lieros whom of course is well known through out the Greek community, but perhaps most widely known for her contribution to both the Zimbabwean and international worlds of art. Helen’s artistic accomplishments are extraordinary. Her biography includes numerous solo exhibitions in Athens, Geneva, London, as well as Harare and Bulawayo. She has participated in exhibitions within the Americas, Asia, Australasia, Europe and Africa. Her work is included in both public and private collections throughout the globe. Within Zimbabwe she is renowned as a teacher and educator, in this regard; her impact in Zimbabwe is immeasurable.

Greg pointed out throughout any artist’s career it is possible to identify significant works. However there are few artists that can be described as having created momentous works, - works such as Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, or Picasso’s Guernica. Helen’s murals are one such work. They are beyond imagination for their sheer size and magnitude, and for the immense effort and energy required to create such work. Anyone who has ever held a brush or pencil will know that the mechanics and proportions of the human body lend themselves to producing works of a certain, limited size, and the difficulty of exceeding this seems to increase exponentially in relation to the scale of the work. Despite this, the technical aspects of draughtsmanship, composition and colour, for which Helen is renowned, within these murals will withstand the most intense scrutiny.

As a teacher, Greg instructed the students present to pay close attention to the depth of investigation and research seen within the drawings, studies and sketches. They are investigations into ideas, documents of thoughts and offer a glimpse into the nature of creative thought. They are investigations into the structure of beings, of proportion and composition. As well as this, they represent extensive academic research into the conventions and traditions adhered to throughout the history of religious painting.
However, Greg explained that Helen’s murals are not bound by these traditions and conventions but can rather be seen to enter dialogue with them, take cognizance of them and respond in a truly personal manner, fitting for the continent in which they exist. They are not bound by dogma, but are in fact an expression of a dynamic, living faith.
Greg finished by passing on an observation made by a visiting Archbishop to the Maputo Church. Observing the freedom, colour and life within the work he stated that these murals are created for a new generation. Perhaps this is the highest compliment that can be paid. For it describes a work that will live forward in time, rather than look back to the past. A work that communicates with and speaks to those who view it, both of the intensity of religious convictions of the artist, but also of creativity, expression and the power to transform through the visual arts, and artistic endeavour.