Fadzai Muchemwa

Biography

Fadzai is the Curator for Education and Public Programming at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare. She holds a Bachelor?s degree in English and Communication. Fadzai was a teacher for over twelve years before making a career change to join the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in October 2014 as the assistant to the chief curator.

Fadzai is interested in the history and memory of African storytelling, gender and sexuality in visual art, conceptual art, performance and the history of African art. For Fadzai these are areas which need to be revisited for communities to forge their identity. Fadzai is also interested in the diaspora as well as how the global North has influenced trends in Africa.

She has worked on the projects Basket Case II, the Mawonero/Umbono publication, the Zimbabwe Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015 and on the migration exhibition Kabbo ka Muwala/The Girl’s Basket which finished showing in Bremen. Fadzai attended the ICI curatorial intensive in Dakar in June 2016 and was Assistant Curator for the Zimbabwe Pavilion at the 57th La Biennale di Venezia. She is part of the Arts and Culture: Writers in Africa Network (ACWA).

Fadzai’s day to day work involves managing the museum?s education and public programmes. For schools and young audiences she is developing education programmes which make full use of the museum?s collections and exhibitions and outreach programmes for school children in the Harare Metropolitan area. Fadzai is also working on curating two programmes, based on the collection, which are pertinent to local schools’ curricula and the art history of Zimbabwe. Another large part of Fadzai’s role is the development and growth of the museum’s Visual Arts Studio, in the hope that it will gain accreditation and become an academic establishment.

At the British Museum
During her time on the International Training Programme in 2017, Fadzai was based in the Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas and her partner placement was spent at Glasgow Museums.

Fadzai worked with fellow Chithra Kallur (Head Archivist, Museum of Art and Photography, Bangalore) on her Room 3 project, entitled Spirits of the Wild: Exploring the World of Animal Worship.

Legacy Projects
In 2017 Fadzai attended the ITP+ course on Photography and Documentation. In a workshop, spread over a 5 day period, fellows attended seminars, creative workshops, hands-on sessions and practical working groups with colleagues from the British Museum. The aim of the course was to further the professional development and reconnect the alumni from the summer programme.

In 2019, Fadzai took part in the ITP+ Course on Museums and Education held at CSMVS Mumbai which focused on the vital role museums can play in education, learning and social development. The workshop was attended by ITP fellows from India, Malaysia, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe as well as UK partners and British Museum colleagues.