NZWISA
EXHIBITION; 17 to 25 October 2025
at PaMoyo Gallery, 24 East Rd, Belgravia,
Harare.
Opening 17th October, 6pm till late,
thereafter 9am to 5pm daily.
Live Music by Hope Masike. Cash bar and
traditional music
Artist: Samantha Rumbidzai
Vazhure (nee Majange)
On 17 October, I’m opening my debut solo exhibition, Nzwisa,
in Harare. Curated by @pamoyo.gallery this exhibition brings together works
inspired by the sacred landscapes of Zimbabwe, Shona cosmology & the Welsh
countryside where I live. Each piece reflects my evolution from self-taught
painter into an artist ready to take the next step in my journey.
Here’s a little glimpse of my process behind the
scenes… building textures, layering acrylics and weaving memory.
My impressionist and expressionist art is vibrant and protrusive –
touching and feeling my strokes and daubs of acrylic on canvas is gratifying to
the tactile sense.
I am a self-taught painter and accomplished bilingual author and literary activist, who grew up in Zimbabwe.
We exhibit limited edition prints made from 3D scanned images of my
original paintings, so they look textured. The high-quality images are printed
on acid-free, water-resistant, smooth fine art 320gsm giclee paper, using high
dynamic range inks and delivered in robust postal tubes. All prints come in
editions of 100, are numbered, titled, dated and signed by the artist, and
include a certificate of authenticity. All the limited-edition
prints are available in the following standard dimensions and prices: A3 - $70, 50 x 70 cm - $250.
I am the Publishing Director and Founding Editor of Carnelian Heart Publishing Ltd. (established in April 2020) and was named African publisher of the year in 2023 by Brittle Paper. My journey into painting started in 2022, almost by accident, but it quickly became my freedom, my passion and my path.
Here; descriptions of a few samples of the exhibits:
1)
Munhu
Wangu (2025)
A
tender evocation of intimacy, Munhu Wangu reflects the personal claim of
belonging: “my person.”
The
work celebrates the sacred bond between two people, balancing vulnerability
with strength. The brushwork suggests both protection and exposure, reminding
us that love is not ownership but communion.*Illustrated for SoulDeep Music
Zim’s latest single, Zvakanaka.
2)
In
the embraces of struggle (2025)
After
Dambudzo Marechera in House of Hunger: “Something fighting floated down
from a pale blue sky. As it floated down to my level, I saw that it was a black
man and a white man locked in the embraces of struggle.”
Illustrated
for the cover of Cynthia Rumbidzai Marangwanda’s novella, The Toppling,
where spirit medium MaMoyo battles the ghost of imperialist Cecil John Rhodes,
this piece acknowledges hardship not as defeat but as an enveloping force that
shapes identity. The strokes carry tension, yet within them lies resilience.
3)
Iwewe
neni 1 (2025) Iwewe neni. You and me. The painting explores
togetherness beyond the physical, delving into emotional and spiritual
partnership. It portrays the invisible thread binding two beings across space
and circumstance. *Illustrated for
SoulDeep Music Zim’s latest single, Zvakanaka.
4)
Ziroto
(2025)Ziroto, meaning a
significant dream or prophecy, in Shona, is a visual elegy of memory, loss, and
the violence of historical silence. It is a depiction of Chaminuka’s prophecy
of the coming of Europeans to what is now Zimbabwe. In Ziroto,
history is not a neutral record, but a battleground. The work is a quiet
indictment of cultural displacement and the dangers of forgetting. Through it,
we are asked: who controls remembrance? And what happens when even our
descendants no longer recognise us?
Vapfuri Vemhangura (2025)
Literally, iron smelters. Figuratively, the artisans of old Zimbabwean societies. The painting recalls craft, labour and innovation. It situates metallurgy as heritage, linking human creativity to elemental transformation. The Soko Vhudzijena clan are acknowledged as iron smelters who migrated from Hwedza, in their praise poem. The Lion Totem clan are also said to have migrated from Mutoko via Hwedza, to Chivi. It is believed that they may have been Soko people who changed their totem to Shumba for strategic purposes. Inspired by the history of our people’s migration during the spread of iron age farming from the north to the south of what is now Zimbabwe, three men leave the iron smelting scene, accompanied by a protective Chapungu, the Bateleur eagle.
Iron ore was broken up and placed in a smelting oven, together with charcoal. Air was pumped into the oven with goatskin bellows. When the heat in the oven reached a very high temperature, the iron leaked down to the bottom. When the iron cooled into a lump, the furnace was broken open. The iron was then ready to be heated again and ‘smithed’ or hammered into tool shapes. Neil Parsons, Focus on History Book 1, 1985 p52
“The clay furnace is in the shape of a womb and has symbolic breasts. Possession, dance and mbira music accompany the process.” Gillian Atherstone & Duncan Wylie, Zimbabwe Art, Symbol and Meaning, p65
Silence (2024)
Silence is a small-scale textured painting that speaks volumes through subtlety and colour. Set against a warm yellow base, the painting centres on a pair of lips whose quiet presence suggests withheld words and unspoken stories. To one side, textured patterns in shades of orange, red, mauve with touches of violet-blue evoke the rich and intricate beauty of African artistry. The interplay of vibrant hues against the subdued backdrop creates a powerful contrast, embodying a silent strength and the layers of expression that words alone cannot convey.
Regards
Samantha Rumbidzai Vazhure
