The Zimbabwe Pavilion at the 61th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, marks Zimbabwe’s eighth participation.
The Zimbabwe Pavilion at the 61st International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, marks Zimbabwe’s eighth participation.
The pavilion is commissioned by Raphael Chikukwa, Executive Director of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe & curated by Fadzai Veronica Muchemwa.
“The 61st Biennale Arte is titled “In Minor Keys,” curated in memory of the late Koyo Kouoh. Within this framework, the Zimbabwe Pavilion presents Second Nature | Manyonga—an exhibition that explores neuroplasticity as both metaphor and method, an entry point into thinking about how identities, stories, and societies are continuously reshaped.”
“Second Nature carries a double edge: what once belonged to human habit is now entwined with machine logics, raising urgent questions about autonomy, imagination, and control. The artists gathered for this exhibition operate at the edge of change. Their practices insist that resilience is never mere survival, but the courage to reorganise, to invent, and to begin again.”
The pavilion is commissioned by Raphael Chikukwa, Executive Director of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe & curated by Fadzai Veronica Muchemwa.
Selected Artists:
Born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, in 1989, Felix Shumba is a multidisciplinary artist currently living and working in Masvingo, Zimbabwe. A self-taught artist who grew up near the Great Zimbabwe monument, Shumba’s practice spans drawing, painting, video, text, and installation. He deconstructs real and imagined spaces, which he refers to as Fold Fields Space (FFS)—areas haunted by death, trauma, ecological damage, and the use of military force as a tool of control.
Born in 1992 in Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe, Pardon Mapondera is a full-time artist currently living and working in Cape Town, South Africa. His primary medium is found objects and discarded materials—the remnants of a global consumer culture. His textile works fashioned from plastic bottles, straws, and thread ruminate on the burgeoning ecological crisis that is set to displace swathes of people in the coming decades. Read more…
Eva Raath is a textile artist based in Zimbabwe who works primarily with printmaking and domestic materials to reflect on personal and collective identity. Using mediums such as tablecloths and found textiles, Raath transforms everyday objects into artworks that speak to the lived experiences of women and the domestic sphere. Read more…
Gideon Gomo lives and works in Harare, Zimbabwe, where he has practised for over twenty years. His practice is centred around conveying the events and situations of daily life in Harare. His sculptures and assemblages reveal the hidden and ignored voices of society and are infused with ritual, fantasy, and dreamlike qualities.Read more…
Born in 1988 in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe, Franklyn Dzingai currently lives and works in Harare. He started his fine art studies at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe Visual Art Studio in 2009 and completed them in 2011 with a focus on printmaking. Read more…
ARTISTS
Born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, in 1989, Felix Shumba is a multidisciplinary artist currently living and working in Masvingo, Zimbabwe. A self-taught artist who grew up near the Great Zimbabwe monument, Shumba’s practice spans drawing, painting, video, text, and installation. He deconstructs real and imagined spaces, which he refers to as Fold Fields Space (FFS)—areas haunted by death, trauma, ecological damage, and the use of military force as a tool of control.
Born in 1992 in Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe, Pardon Mapondera is a full-time artist currently living and working in Cape Town, South Africa. His primary medium is found objects and discarded materials—the remnants of a global consumer culture. His textile works fashioned from plastic bottles, straws, and thread ruminate on the burgeoning ecological crisis that is set to displace swathes of people in the coming decades. Read more…
Eva Raath is a textile artist based in Zimbabwe who works primarily with printmaking and domestic materials to reflect on personal and collective identity. Using mediums such as tablecloths and found textiles, Raath transforms everyday objects into artworks that speak to the lived experiences of women and the domestic sphere. Read more…
Gideon Gomo lives and works in Harare, Zimbabwe, where he has practised for over twenty years. His practice is centred around conveying the events and situations of daily life in Harare. His sculptures and assemblages reveal the hidden and ignored voices of society and are infused with ritual, fantasy, and dreamlike qualities.Read more…
Born in 1988 in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe, Franklyn Dzingai currently lives and works in Harare. He started his fine art studies at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe Visual Art Studio in 2009 and completed them in 2011 with a focus on printmaking. Read more…
ABOUT
What is the Venice Biennale?
The Venice Biennale (La Biennale di Venezia) is one of the longest-running cultural festivals globally, established in 1895. It serves as a platform for Italian and international art exhibitions, attracting up to 600,000 international visitors annually. The Biennale is renowned for its ambitious exhibitions, setting new global trends and launching the international careers of many pioneering artists and architects.
Why is the Venice Biennale important?
The Venice Biennale provides a platform for Zimbabwean artists to exhibit their work on an international stage, fostering cultural exchange and promoting the diversity of Zimbabwean art and culture. As Minister of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture Anselem Nhamo Sanyatwe stated at the announcement reception: “Second Nature can only come from you and not from others, for they are not you and we have never been them.”
In Minor Keys | The 61st Biennale Theme
The 61st International Art Exhibition is titled “In Minor Keys,” conceived by the late curator Koyo Kouoh. The exhibition is grounded in a deep belief in artists as the vital interpreters of the social and psychic condition and catalysts of new relations and possibilities. It proposes a radical reconnection with art’s natural habitat and role in society: the emotional, the visual, the sensory, the affective, the subjective.
How long does the Venice Biennale last?
The Biennale spans approximately six months annually, from May until November, alternating between art and architecture each year.
Tickets
Tickets and guided tours for the 61st International Art Exhibition are purchasable online only at www.labiennale.org. Early bird prices are available offering discounted rates for various ticket types and guided tours.
Services for the Public
Both the Giardini and Arsenale venues offer a range of services for visitors, including bars, restaurants, bookshops, infopoints, restrooms with changing tables, and courtesy transport services with electric cars for visitors with reduced mobility.
When and Where
The 61st International Art Exhibition, Biennale Arte 2026, takes place at the Giardini and Arsenale venues from 9 May to 22 November 2026 (preview 6, 7, 8 May).
How to Get There
Detailed information about transportation options and directions to the venues can be found on the official La Biennale di Venezia website.
Where is the Zimbabwe Pavilion
Zimbabwe has its own building during the Venice Art Biennale at the historic Church of the Pietà – Saint Mary of the Visitation.
VENUE
The Santa Maria della Visitazione Church, also known as della Pietà, was built between 1745 and 1760 by Giorgio Massari. It replaced a 15th-century church near Hotel Metropole. The facade, completed in 1906, features classical design elements. Inside, it boasts elegant 18th-century Venetian architecture, including choir stalls where young girls from the institute performed concerts. Antonio Vivaldi, the “red priest,” lived and performed here.
ADDRESS
Riva degli Schiavoni, 4150,
30122 Venezia VE,
Italy
Tue – Sun
11 am – 7 pm
April 20 to November 24, 2024
ADDRESS
Riva degli Schiavoni, 4150,
30122 Venezia VE,
Italy
Tue – Sun
11 am – 7 pm
April 20 to November 24, 2024
CONTACT
Zvikomborero Mandangu
Phone Numbers:
+263 024 704666/7
+263 8677 00 2043
Address: 20 Julius Nyerere Way, Harare, Zimbabwe
