My husband and I, Frank Aldridge, son of Frances Wood and Frank McEwen**,
were invited to visit his father, Frank McEwen, at The Rhodes National
Gallery in Salisbury, Rhodesia in August of 1968. We stayed in Frank
McEwen's apartment located on the top floor of the Museum.
During our stay there we were sent off on a 3 day excursion to the
Wankie Game park where we also toured the awesome Victoria Falls. For
another part of the trip we went to the Mozambique Game park, driving
with McEwen, staying for several nights getting up at 5: am every morning
to take the tour of the animal water holes, peering for sights of lions
and giraffes and what ever wild life we could spot.
While our excursions to see the wild animals of Africa were thrilling,
it didn't compare with the thrill of the experience of being McEwen's
guests in his natural habitat and experiencing a taste of his social
life and listening to all his stories of the people he had known such
as Brancusi, Braque, Matisse, Picasso and many others. My way of looking
at art changed during this trip to Africa.
We met many of the local artists who were working on their stone sculptures.
The trip was over thirty years ago. I did not take notes and so all
that remains is my memory and a few photographs taken with a primitive
camera.
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Adele Aldridge & Thomas Mukarobgw
in The Rhodes National Gallery.
photo by Frank Aldridge August, 1968
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