Comexposed: The Making of a Creative Community
Photo courtesy of Comexposed
Being an artist can be frustrating, especially when you’re young. You might have the talent and the skill. Still, the industry seems inaccessible, its major players unapproachable. To top it all off, you realize that talent isn’t enough. This is where Comexposed — a Zimbabwean-based creative community co-founded by Eugene Mapondera and Tinodiwa Makoni — comes in.
Comexposed has been bringing artists together for almost a decade now. Today it’s the go-to hub for any artist of any skill level. Through the WhatsApp group, artists can easily communicate, share art and exchange feedback. It’s also helpful when it comes to collaboration. There are multiple in-person workshops facilitated by Comexposed throughout the year that experts lead in a particular field, like art or technology. Artists look to Comexposed for collaboration, mentorship and skill development, but they’re not the only ones who are part of the community.
Out of all the activities under the Comexposed umbrella, the most popular is the Comexposed Convention which takes place annually. Aptly named “Converge,” the event highlights Comexposed’s true beauty: the junction where artists and enthusiasts meet. Fans can meet illustrators, comic artists, game developers, filmmakers and many more local and regional creatives. It’s a true celebration of art and the people who make it, and it attracts several young people every year.
Converge feels like the culmination of all the work that goes on within Comexposed, and Comexposed feels like the ultimate haven for an artist, but it wasn’t always that way, according to the co-founders. Read on for a conversation between Sunstroke Magazine and Comexposed leaders Eugene Mapondera and Tinodiwa Makoni.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Photo courtesy of Comexposed
How did the idea of creating such a community come about?
Mapondera: Towards the end of our careers as educators, we were part of other organizations that sought to achieve all the things we have finally done through Comexposed. However, administratively, we felt as though there were a few things that were lacking. We found ourselves having a lot of discussions out of frustration, so we converted that into an idea. It started by co-opting our students, coming up with some names that formed the organization or the collective that people could understand, share and talk about.
Makoni: We were creatives in our own right, but we knew that we couldn’t be islands. There’s very little that you can do just by yourself, or rather, there’s a certain distance that you can go. So that resulted in us deciding to go online. Because there was still a culture of, “I do art but I’m not gonna share it,” we had to mandate it. As the students shared, the acknowledgment they received gave them confidence in their careers.
How would you describe the early days of Comexposed?
Mapondera: It goes without saying we had plenty of teething problems. For starters, we were in our twenties when we started Comexposed and figuring out our own careers at the same time because Zimbabwe is a very volatile place economically. In the beginning, it was very hard to get the community to understand that there were rules. We’re talking 2012. Things like bullying online and moderation weren’t taken as seriously as they are today, but we wanted to ensure that not only young adults were comfortable in the group but also the preteens that we attracted and the parents who ended up investigating because it caught on very quickly with them too.
Makoni: It was an idea that took a life of its own, so reining in people to the direction we wanted to go was a huge challenge. There was a lot of haphazard behavior out there. Eugene was the main guy in creating that structure because he’s far more structured than I am, but forming the rules, guidelines, and principles was very important to us.
Did you have a moment where you finally thought everything was coming together as planned?
Mapondera: I’ll be honest and say I think it’s still coming together, but I have had moments where I’ve been pleasantly surprised and reassured. We come from very humble beginnings as an organization. In 2018, Tino and I received invitations from the Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA), one of the biggest festivals in the region. We were invited as art curators and specialists, which meant we were part of conversations with festival founders and leaders from Malawi, South Africa, and Zambia who had come all the way to attend this event, and they recognized our work. In 2019 we were invited to South Africa, where a similar dedicated event was taking place. When we were receiving this recognition, I realized we’d matured to an extent, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s still in the process of coming together.
Makoni: I agree we haven’t made it, but the moment I remember the most is actually the first event we ever had in 2015. We were on a shoestring budget, and we’d spent all of the money on planning, but by the time we got to the event, we hadn’t actually marketed it. We didn’t know if people were going to pitch up. By the time the event was fully subscribed, there were 250 people, we’d run out of food, and I was flabbergasted.
Photo courtesy of Comexposed
Photo courtesy of Comexposed
How would you describe the artistic experience in the Zimbabwean environment?
Mapondera: One of the things we succeeded in proving is that you can go against the odds and make the most out of very little. There are Zimbabwean guys working on big Hollywood blockbusters, and they’re all coming out of this environment. One thing that I have to emphasize is that it’s less about the environment and more about the individual. I strongly believe anyone could have done this whole Comexposed thing or set up a similar organization, but at the end of the day, it’s about your dedication.
Makoni: It is about the individual. There have been many clones, and we like clones. We actually don’t have a problem with anyone trying to do what we’re doing because that’s just more people in the conversation, but a lot of these clones don’t last, and I think it’s because there’s a misconception that we get paid. When that doesn’t happen to them, then they’re out, so that’s why I say it’s really about the individuals, and when I say that, I’m also talking about the community as a whole. The people within must strive to do better. Our environment in Zimbabwe is unforgiving. It’s only when you win that you get noticed in our industry; because it’s not noticed, it’s not assisted. We’ve had little incremental victories pushing as hard as we can against the grain. It’s easier now than when we started because people now know our faces and are willing to trust us with more, but it’s still an uphill journey because we haven’t truly won. Until we have a Spielberg in Zimbabwe, we haven’t won.
Mapondera: I need to make it clear that it’s far from easy. It’s brutal at times, but people don’t come to Comexposed because we came from a great environment. I think what makes us stand out the most is that we’re doing what has been done in other countries regardless of what the environment is like. We won’t grow to the scale of a DragonCon or a New York Comic Con, but people realize that as long as we have the right professionals, we can make that vision materialize.
What will it take for you to feel that you have truly succeeded?
Makoni: I don’t see an end in sight because it’s just been ten years of grinding, and we focus more on doing the best we can. We’re always trying to one-up ourselves, and we’ve realized that we are unique in our offering and what we’re trying to do. No one else is trying to do it, and we’re satisfied with that. Whether the world eventually acknowledges or thanks us for it is not important. The impact is what we focus on.
Mapondera: I think some of our proudest moments come from when we hear a member of the Comexposed community actively played a role in the production of a mainstream movie, and we’ve had several cases like that. I think the more we continue to demonstrate that that’s the impact we have on the creative community; that we’re an incubator, a safe space, we create opportunities, and it’s what we set out to do in the first place. It’s a lot of heart, and it’s a lot of soul.
You can keep up with Comexposed’s work through their website, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter.