RAIR | 2024-25

tendai mupita

Tendai Mupita, born in Harare in 1990, is a Zimbabwean multidisciplinary artist specializing in painting, video and sculpture. He graduated with a (BFA) from Chinhoyi University of Technology in 2015 and earned his (MFA) in sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, in 2023.

In 2017, he was awarded the Blessing Ngobeni Artist Residency at the Bag Factory in Johannesburg, South Africa. He also participated in the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, USA, in 2019. His work has been exhibited in numerous shows across Zimbabwe, Kenya, Italy, London, the USA, and South Africa.

In 2020, he held a solo exhibition in Rome titled "Kuedza Mudzimu nesengere," which was featured in the September issue of Artforum magazine. In 2019, he participated in the Zimbabwe Cultural Center of Detroit's artist exchange program, culminating in a workshop at the Charles Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, USA. Additionally, he collaborated with Talking Dolls and the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan.

Tendai is a co-founder of the Sadza Series, a non-profit organization focused on cultural projects. He is currently a resident at the Roswell Artist-in-Residency program in New Mexico.

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My work includes site-specific installations, video, sculpture, printmaking, and painting. It explores meditative and mindful practices such as sitting still, having conversations, prayer, and ritual within traditional architectural spaces and sacred areas in nature. I examine the complexities of collective meditative states and the contrasting aspects of the urban and rural psyche in modern-day Zimbabwe.

In my paintings and sculptures, I draw on philosophical references related to totemic histories and taboos. I reconstruct and deconstruct sacred spaces, transforming them into interactive environments to explore the struggles of modernity in reconciling traditional culture with new autonomous subcultures. These subcultures take shape in the form of unique and curious beings represented in my sculptures and paintings. The imagery in my work reflects lived experiences, witnessed events, and childhood memories in urban Zimbabwe. These images often manifest as humanoid figures, animals, or non-existent, human-like subjects, together creating harmonious conversations. My intention is to validate the trivialized, less told, or unknown stories that were part of my everyday experiences.

My work engages with colonial and postcolonial histories, which are expressed through symbolism and folklore. A common feature of my sculptures is the combination and assembling of materials that blur the line between the mundane and ritualistic, reflecting not only in Shona (Zimbabwe) cosmology but also in various indigenous philosophies. The sculptures take on multiple forms and assemblages, characterized by continuous lines representing eternal interconnectedness. I am captivated by the persistent or infinite movement of objects, often using small to medium-sized objects. Both my sculptures and paintings exhibit meticulous work, showcasing the intensive labor and satisfaction involved in creating them. I am particularly interested in the intersection of medieval mythology with the glamorous representation of indigenous rituals, metaphors, and philosophies.

See more of Tendai Mupita’s work here.

Instagram: @sarungano_wemeso