RAT art, resistance, and voting

[Mary Ann McGivern <mmcgivern@stlnet.com>]

http://adbusters.org/campaigns/first/toolbox/creativeresistance/08.html


                              When it came time to re-elect the despot,
Chaz
                              Maviyane-Davies couldn’t stomach the sham.
He could
                              vote against, yes ? but to do so little?
In his Harare
                              studio, a more personal campaign began.

                              "Design is my weapon and Zimbabwe is my
country," says
                              Maviyane-Davies. "If design can be used to
sell jeans and
                              perfume, then I will use it to fight for
democracy and
                              against injustice."

                              In the lead-up to Zimbabwe’s parliamentary
elections in
                              June, Maviyane-Davies declared his own "30
Days of
                              Activism." A graphic designer whose work
has appeared
                              around the world, he began to produce,
once daily, an
                              image to protest and resist the iron fist
of President
                              Robert Mugabe. By the eighth day, he had
stepped up to
                              two graphic statements per day, and had
broadened his
                              campaign. Images like "Say Something," for
example,
                              questioned the church’s silence in the
face of state terror
                              (see above).

                              "My motivating force was listening to the
radio and
                              watching the news," he recalls. "It was
anger, every day,
                              and the anger drove me more and more."

                              Maviyane-Davies spread his images on the
Internet,
                              eventually sending a daily post to 300
people worldwide.
                              Meanwhile, his "commentaries" began to
appear as ads
                              and flyers in the streets of Harare.

                              In the world press, the Zimbabwean
election was widely
                              reported as a question of land; six
million black citizens
                              eke out a living in communal areas, while
just 4,500 white
                              settlers own 27 million acres of farmland.
During 20 years
                              in power, Mugabe’s few land reforms have
benefitted only
                              his political allies, and he has failed
even to end colonial
                              subsidies for the white farmers.



                              Mugabe won re-election on what
Maviyane-Davies calls "a
                              margin of terror": voters in rural
Zimbabwe, home to 70
                              percent of voters, were warned that any
polling area that
                              failed to support Mugabe would feel his
wrath once the
                              ballots were counted.

                              The promise wasn’t an empty one. During an
interview in
                              mid-July, Maviyane-Davies reported that a
low-level
                              curfew had become an excuse to beat people
in the
                              streets of Zimbabwe’s three major cities,
where
                              Mugabe’s party failed to win a single
seat. The message,
                              says Maviyane-Davies, is clear: "You voted
for change?
                              Well, this is the change you got."

                              Maviyane-Davies’ protest graphics are now
being made
                              into a poster and calendar ("Lest we
forget," he says). But
                              he remains angry that the world community
seems ready
                              to accept five more years of Mugabe,
despite a
                              statement by international observers that
the elections
                              were not "free and fair."

                              He has a final commentary, then, for those
who believe
                              Zimbabwe’s people have simply ended up
with the
                              government they deserve. "Please come and
live here, if
                              you dare."

                              ? James MacKinnon