From the Curator's BlackBox: Zimbabwe's Journey to the Venice Biennale from 2011 to 2019

This First Word comes at a time when Zimbabwe's continued visibility at the Venice Biennale is in question because of the country's current economic and political challenges. The Curator's BlackBox seeks to trace Zimbabwe's journey to the Venice Biennale from 2011 to the present, a journey that has so many chapters. Zimbabwean artists are the major players in this journey and my job as the chief curator of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe has simply been to create the platform for their chapters to unfold.

To those who regard themselves as our teachers yet question how and why the Zimbabwe Pavilion is at the Venice Biennale, it is interesting how no-one ever questions the presence of Western countries' pavilions. An African country's visibility on any global platform seems to always raise questions. However, I think our visibility at the Biennale is important given how non-visibile our nations are on most global platforms. The Zimbabwe Pavilion at the Venice Biennale has shaped many artists' careers, from 2011 to the present, and it has connected many Zimbabwean artists to the global art market. The pavilion has provided Zimbabwean artists the space and capacity to experiment during all these editions.

Zimbabwe's journey to the Venice Biennale would not have been realized if it were not for the persistent voices of diaspora curators, who include the late Okwui Enwezor, Simon Njami, Salah Hassan, and many others. It would be naïve and selfish, in my opinion, not to mention their contribution to what are now known as African country pavilions at the Venice Biennale and many other global platforms. Their role is immense and yet they have been misunderstood. Some have called them gatekeepers, and yet many of us, myself included, have learned a lot from their persistent voices. Their critique of the vocalization and theorization of the West at that time gave some of us energy to understand and to see how we could create opportunities for artists in our own countries. In my view, the visibility of African artists in key Western institutions and platforms today can be traced back to those curators.

The idea for a Zimbabwe Pavilion at the Venice Biennale was set in motion upon my arrival at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in 2010. My curatorial work was inspired by my involvement as a volunteer at the 2nd Johannesburg Biennale in 1997. That Biennale, curated by the late Okwui Enwezor, was a platform that provided opportunities for many curators and artists. For me, the 2nd Johannesburg Biennale was a free learning ground that provided an opportunity for us as young learners in the arts to interact and get educated about the global contemporary art world. This was a very important platform that South Africa provided not only to its citizens but to the continent. I am aware that there were those who doubted what the 2nd Johannesburg Biennale achieved, and yet it inspired so many artists, emerging curators, and projects around the globe.

The title of the 2nd Johannesburg Biennale Biennale was Trade Routes: History and Geography, and allow me to say that many trade routes got opened there, and I am one of the people who took something out of it. My interaction with many curators, museum directors, artists, and other cultural workers grew my network. The Pro Helvetia team that I met there in 1997 and later in 2001 provided me with a curatorial residency at Centre Pas Quart in Biel, Switzerland. It was a rare opportunity to be mentored by the Centre Pas Quart's director at the time, Andreas Meir. The residency included a trip to Venice and Art Basel in 2001—yet another huge platform to understand the global art market and its players. I arrived in Venice a few days after the official opening with Patrick Mautloa, a South African artist, and we visited all the venues, but what bothered us was the absence of African country pavilions. This absence stuck in my head.

On my return to Zimbabwe, I was given an opportunity to...