NZWISA: Samantha Vazhure's solo exhibition begins in Harare

 

NZWISA EXHIBITION; 17 to 25 October 2025

at PaMoyo Gallery, 24 East Rd, Belgravia, Harare.

Opening 17^th 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. 

 …and many more!

Regards

Samantha Rumbidzai Vazhure