By 
A Chongwe-based youth, sponsored by ChildFund Zambia, has won a Grand Prix Award in the United Kingdom for his outstanding visual art works.
The Grand Prix Award is given to the most outstanding Artist in the 9th edition of “Stars of the Albion dubbed “Grand Prix 2023”.
Mclaudy Munanzwa, a Community Art Teacher at ChildFund Zambia was the only African awarded in the 2023 visual arts category.
Munanzwa thanked ChildFund and government for providing opportunities for him to be recognized internationally following other exhibitions he attended earlier in Uganda and Zimbabwe.
He said the award would help bridge the gap between African and the European arts.
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Munanzwa said his works would be displayed at a leading Art Gallery in London, El Hill Art Gallery.
He said it was the first time in history that a Zambian was nominated for the award.
“I am hopeful that I will be nominated for the same Award in 2024. I am one of those privileged young artists who have been assisted by both ChildFund and Government. When I won the Grand Prix Award, I had the opportunity to meet the Minister of Youth Honourable Elvis Nkandu during a Business Expo where I shared with him the current development and assured me that Government is willing to support such opportunities,” he said.
He observed that art was an industry that would create jobs in a country like Zambia.
“We have great potential and there is a lot of money in art. The issue is just in people identifying opportunities that are available and utilizing them,” he said.
Munanzwa called on fellow visual artists to form cooperatives or companies to benefit from Constituency Development Fund (CDF).
“Actually through working with ChildFund, I was able to register a company Mclaudy Creations, a company that deals with art and design,” he said.
“We need to get organized as artists for us to benefit from these opportunities brought to us through CDF,” he said.
Munanzwa paid special tribute to ChildFund for providing an opportunity to transform his life.
“I personally, I do not think my life would have been the same if ChildFund did not play a role that they are playing now. When we started we could not believe that there could be opportunities in Chainda because locals could not agree with the cost of our art works. Through this exposure by ChildFund, I see myself putting Zambia on the map and inspiring the young people,” he said.
Contributed by Augustine Sichula
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