Zimbabwe and South Africa Announce Artists for 2019 Venice Biennale

The 2019 Venice Biennale, running from May 11 to November 24, will feature national pavilions for Zimbabwe and South Africa. Zimbabwe's pavilion, curated by Raphael Chikukwa, presents artists Kudzanai Violet Hwami, Neville Starling, Georgina Maxim, and Cosmas Shiridzinomwa. The pavilion is titled "Soko Risina Musoro," inspired by an epic poem by Herbert Chitepo, and aligns with the Biennale theme "May You Live in Interesting Times." Doreen Sibanda, Commissioner of the Zimbabwe Pavilion, stated that the pavilion has been crucial in inserting the country's imprint into global contemporary art conversations. South Africa's pavilion, titled "The Stronger We Become," features artists Dineo Seshee Bopape, Mawande Ka Zenzile, and Tracey Rose, curated by Nkule Mabaso and Nomusa Makhubu from the University of Cape Town. The pavilion aims to capture the collective fortitude of South Africans, addressing themes of social resistance, memory, racism, colonialism, post-Apartheid, and women's conditions. Bopape works with sculpture and installation on collective memory; Ka Zenzile uses painting to explore racism and colonialism; Rose employs photography and installation to narrate post-Apartheid and women's issues. The curators noted that despite South Africa's fragmented society and fragile political landscape, artists continue to fuel social resistance.