Pioneering art collection returns to Zimbabwe after 70 years

For the first time in his life, Gift Livingstone Sango, 65, saw a painting by his father depicting Jesus as a Black man.

“My father used to draw Jesus as Black because God is for all of us. He is not a God of color,” said Sango.

The painting done by his late father in the 1940s is part of a historic exhibit, “The Stars are Bright,” now at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe for the first time since the collection left the country more than 70 years ago.

A photograph of Sango’s father, Livingstone, as a young boy hangs next to the painting.

“We never knew our father was such a great artist but after 70 years we are seeing these pictures. We are being called,” said Sango. “Some of these pictures we had never seen before. I am seeing my father as a boy.”

Sango’s father went on