I had heard from some of my friends at the gallery about Rockston and finally made my way there on Monday. It's tucked away in the Woodlands area of Lusaka, a pleasant are near Chilenje where there quite a few artists living and some history. This was the area that the British colonists lived in and Chilenje is where Kenneth Kaunda lived, according to my sources, those fighting for independence used to sneek over from Chilenje to Woodlands at night to harass the Brits. Things are much quieter nowadays.
When arriving I was first struck with the beauty of the place. Woodlands itself lives up to its name, trees are abundant. Rockston has a large garden and as I pulled up to the gate I could already see through a gap sculptures dotting the grass. Unfortunately some of the pieces had seen better days, nevertheless everywhere I looked there was some example of art. Rockston claims to be a studio and gallery but at the moment nothing much is happening. There is certainly no gallery and the studios are lovely but badly in need of refurbishment. It is more the potential of the place that got me excited rather than where it is now. I hope that soon the managers will become more active.
