Kudzanai chiurai biography definition

Kudzanai Chiurai

Zimbabwean art and activist (born )

Kudzanai Chiurai

Chiurai in

Born (age&#;43&#;44)

Harare, Zimbabwe

NationalityZimbabwean
Occupation(s)Artist and activist
Years&#;active – present
AwardsFNB Art prize

Kudzanai Chiurai (born ) is a Zimbabwean artist and activist.[1][2] His repertoire of art combines the operate of mixed media which involves the use of paintings, drawings, videos and photographs to speak to and tackle social, political and cultural issues in Zimbabwe.[3]

Since his first solo exhibition in , his artworks have been exhibited in the Museum of Up-to-date Art in New York Town, Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt, Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and documenta in Kassel, Germany.

Questions of displacement, identity-building, and structures of social and political inequality are incorporated in his artworks. Chiurai uses various media, from video to painting to photography, putting the human being at the center. By building elaborate sceneries and narratives around the characters he creates, while also referring to archival materials, such as photographs, screenplays, and design, Chiurai blurs the lines between fact and fiction, aiming to reimagine the experience of a postcolonial metropolis. His series The Black President originated during a time of major political events: elections in both Zimbabwe and South Africa, and Barack Obama becoming the first black President of the United States.

Forbes listed him among "Thirteen Africans To Observe In ".[4] In , he was named among the "15 Young African Creatives Rebranding Africa" by Forbes.[5]

Kudzanai is not only an artist but also a poet, an activist and a cultural philosopher who addresses social and political injustices in Zimbabwe.[6] Kudzanai is not known as a photographer, but he collaborates with other photographers to diversify the studio photography.

Life and career

Chiurai was born in in Harare, Zimbabwe, but spent most of his later years in South Africa where he became the first black student to graduate with a bachelor's degree in Fine Art from the University of Pretoria.[2] Kudzanai is also considered as part of the "born-free" generation since he was born one year after the independence of Zimbabwe.

He started his career by painting landscapes and portraits until he left his country Zimbabwe for South Africa where he developed an interest in using art as a form of activism.[7] In , Chiurai went on a self-imposed exile after he received arrest threats following his exhibition of Rau Rau and the Battle of Zimbabwe, two controversial artworks that depicted Robert Mugabe as a demonic figure during the build-up to the Zimbabwean general election.[8]

In , his short still film Iyeza was screened during the Sundance Movie Festival.

Kudzanai was a winner of the FNB art prize in South Africa[4]

Style

Kudzanai uses masculinity and power as a design and framework in most of his artwork to represent the political ambiguity in South Africa.

Kudzanai Chiurai b. His function interrogates urgent social issues, such as xenophobia, exile, displacement, the psychological experiences of urban spaces, as well as the Western imprint on Africa. The plan exists in the form of an archive of materials situated in Johannesburg including vinyls, posters, paintings and more, drawn from private African collections. Each moment this archive is exhibited, Chiurai invites a different librarian to interrogate the archive and curate an exhibition.

The idea of masculinity and power is also demonstrated in one of his group exhibitions entitled "The Ebony President", "The Minister of Enterprise" and "Dying to be men".

Kudzanai uses art to depict his surroundings such as urban shops in Johannesburg and the fact that he focuses on the city of South Africa in most of his artwork.

Art work

Kudzanai created a team of posters named 'Conflict Resolution' that exhibit the topics of dispute and violence, along with the ways people solve these disputes. &#;

He used digital photography and printing to produce these posters titled "Conflict Resolution" which talks about the social and political issues in South Africa

Kudzanai's video work is displayed on the walls at the Zukerman Museum of in which the video deals with the gap between Western views of Africa and the realities of the continent of Africa.

The idea of globalization is also incorporated into his artworks.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

  • The revolution will not be televised, Brixton Art Gallery, London
  • 16SNLV, Newtown, Johannesburg, South Africa
  • Selections From Revelations, Museum of Contemporary African Diaspora Arts, Brooklyn
  • Kabbo Ka Muwala / The Girl’s Basket, National Gallery of Zimbabwe

Group exhibitions

  • Reconciliation, University of Pretoria
  • Africa Now,Round Tower, Copenhagen; Northern Norway Art Centre, Lofoten, Norway; and Tampere art museum, Finland
  • Us,Johannesburg Art Gallery
  • SPace,MuseuMAfricA, Johannesburg, South Africa
  • Impressions from South Africa, to Now,Museum of Modern Art, Modern York
  • über(W)unden – Art in troubled times,Goethe-Institut South Africa
  • Figures & Fictions: Contemporary South African Photograph,Victoria and Albert Museum, London.[9]
  • Art Basel: Miami Beach, Miami, Florida, USA
  • Ars 11 at Kiasma, Helsinki, Finland [10]
  • dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel, Germany[11]

References

General references

  • Dreyer, Elfriede.

    "Dystopia in Kudzanai Chiruai's Inclusion of Globalising Johannesburg.", Representation and Spatial Practices in Urban South Africa, edited by Leona, Farber, Research Centre, Visual Identities in Art and Design, , pp.&#;–

  • Klein, Melanie. "Between History, Politics and the Self: Photographic Portraiture in Contemporary Art from Africa." Listening to Africa.

    If you're emotional about shaping the future of art and culture, we'd affectionate to have you onboard. Donate Now. Embark on a futuristic journey of art and identity intersecting with technology. Be a part of the museum of the future.

    Anglophone African Literatures and Cultures, edited by Jana Gohrisch and Ellen Grünkemeier, Heidelberg, , pp.&#;69– 9.

  • Brown, Carol (September ). "Recent Acquisitions at Two South African Collections: UNISA and Durban Art Gallery".

    African Arts. 44 (3): 76– doi/afar S2CID&#;

  • The Divine Comedy: Heaven, Purgatory and Hell Revisited by Contemporary African Artists. Edited by Ambrožič Mara and Simon Njami, Kerber,
  • Norman, Natasha (May ).

    Kudzanai Chiurai - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia: Kudzanai Chiurai (born ) is a Zimbabwean artist and activist. [1] [2] His repertoire of art combines the utilize of mixed media which involves the use of paintings, drawings, videos and photographs to mention and tackle social, political and cultural issues in Zimbabwe. [3].

    "Taking the Road Less Travelled". Third Text. 27 (3): – doi/ S2CID&#;

  • Mabuse, Nkepile. "Kudzanai Chiurai: The Artist Who Stood up to Mugabe." CNN, January
  • "Transitions: States of Being." Zuckerman Museum of Art.
  • "Kudzanai Chiurai's Artwork." Digital Meets Culture, 12 March