Viable Visions Retrospective to Chipata, at the Martin Phiri Gallery, Visual Arts Council, behind Chipata Library is oepning on Thursday, 6 August, 2026 at 17:00.
“Viable Visions is an ongoing project that revisits the life, practice, and legacy of Martin Abasi Phiri (MAP, 1957–1997), a pivotal figure in the development of contemporary art in Zambia and an alumnus of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Initiated and curated by Lifang Zhang in collaboration with the Lusaka Contemporary Art Centre (LuCAC), the Zambia National Visual Arts Council (VAC), and supported by the Phiri Family, the project unfolds through exhibitions, archival research, artwork restoration, digitisation, public programmes, and publication. It re-examines the artistic, pedagogical, and institutional contributions of MAP, tracing how his visions continue to resonate with artistic practices in Zambia and on the Africa continent today.
Presented in Chipata as an extension of the Viable Visions project, this retrospective exhibition brings together a selection of archival materials that offer insights into MAP’s multifaceted practice as an artist, educator, and cultural organiser. The exhibition creates a space to encounter his visual output alongside the networks, ideas, and institutional frameworks that emerged through his and many others’ efforts. The exhibition’s presence in Chipata carries specific contextual significance. Situated in Eastern Province, MAP’s ancestral home, Chipata provides a vital locus through which to reflect on the relationship between place, memory, and artistic legacy. It is also home to the Martin Phiri Gallery, the local branch of the Visual Arts Council, an organisation whose establishment in 1989 was foundational to MAP’s vision for artist-led infrastructure.
Bringing Viable Visions to Chipata not only extends the geographic reach of the project, but grounds it within a site that directly connects his personal roots to his lasting institutional legacy.”
Text by Lifang Zhang
Poster image: Martin Abasi Phiri, Self-portrait, 1980s. Designed by Augustine Kagimu.