Curated by Fadzai Veronica Muchemwa and commissioned by Raphael Chikukwa, the Pavilion of Zimbabwe presents ‘Second Nature | Manyonga’, featuring artists Gideon Gomo, Eva Raath, Franklyn Dzingai, Felix Shumba and Pardon Mapondera.
Announcement of Pavilion of Zimbabwe at the International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia
The Pavilion of Zimbabwe has announced its participation in the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, opening in April 2026 under the artistic direction of Adriano Pedrosa and the central exhibition ‘In Minor Keys’. Titled ‘Second Nature | Manyonga’, Zimbabwe’s national presentation brings together five artists whose practices reflect on adaptation, transformation, and resilience in an era shaped by technology, crisis, and imagination.
The Pavilion is commissioned by Raphael Chikukwa, Executive Director and Chief Curator of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, and curated by Fadzai Veronica Muchemwa, whose curatorial framework considers neuroplasticity as both metaphor and methodology. The exhibition proposes art as a form of cognitive and cultural remapping, examining how identities and societies reorganise themselves in response to rapid technological and social change.
In ‘Second Nature | Manyonga’, the notion of neuroplasticity extends beyond its biological meaning to describe the process through which external forces reshape human perception and memory. The exhibition brings together installations, prints, sculptures, and textiles that probe the threshold between the human and the technological, the natural and the synthetic. The artists engage this intersection to ask how imagination endures when habit and reflex become automated, and how art can continue to reveal new forms of knowledge.
Curatorial Framework
The curatorial concept positions Second Nature as an exploration of adaptation and reorganisation in times of uncertainty. The exhibition suggests that art functions as a space of transformation, where perception can be retrained and the senses reoriented. The works included examine the impact of technology and crisis on human experience, revealing how the boundaries between creativity, habit, and automation have become increasingly porous.
Muchemwa describes Second Nature as a response to the rapid pace of innovation and the instability it creates. By considering how technological systems have become integral to daily life, the exhibition questions the limits of autonomy and the evolving relationship between imagination and control. The Pavilion proposes that art can serve as a site of sense remapping, making visible the intersection of digital and material realities.
Participating Artists
Felix Shumba presents a series of mixed-media installations that confront the historical and psychological residues of violence. Working with drawing, painting, and video, Shumba reconstructs archival imagery from colonial and postcolonial Zimbabwe to expose the enduring systems of control that shape collective memory. His practice examines the intersection of power and trauma within the postcolonial landscape.
Franklyn Dzingai works primarily in printmaking, employing the reductive cardboard printing method to produce vibrant compositions that explore memory and social interaction. His works draw on personal archives, including family photographs and printed materials, to examine how individual recollection contributes to collective identity. Dzingai’s intricate use of colour and repetition reflects his interest in the layering of personal and cultural histories.
Gideon Gomo creates sculptural assemblages that merge traditional stone carving with contemporary materials, including metal, copper, and found objects. His work reflects on ritual, transformation, and the continuity of cultural memory. Through material experimentation, Gomo redefines the language of Zimbabwean sculpture, positioning it within a dialogue between tradition and modernity.
Pardon Mapondera works with recycled materials, including plastic bottles, straws, and thread, to create complex textile compositions that engage questions of ecology, survival, and renewal. His practice highlights both the environmental and social implications of waste, transforming discarded materials into intricate visual statements that convey a powerful message. Mapondera’s work proposes that regeneration is both an aesthetic and ethical act.
Eva Raath, a Zimbabwean-born artist and printmaker, explores identity and transformation through large-format textile prints. Using found and locally sourced materials, she reimagines the domestic and the decorative as spaces for reflection. Her works strike a balance between aesthetic precision and sustainability, transforming ordinary materials into sites of cultural and personal significance.
Zimbabwe at the Venice Biennale
Since debuting at the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011 with ‘Seeing Ourselves’, the Pavilion of Zimbabwe has become an established platform for contemporary African art. Each edition has expanded on critical themes of identity, spirituality, and transformation. ‘Dudziro’ (2013) interrogated the role of belief systems in shaping identity, while Pixels of ‘Ubuntu’ (2015) examined the convergence of tradition and technology. ‘Soko Risina Musoro’ (2019) explored the cyclical nature of history through poetry and myth, and ‘i Did Not Leave a Sign?’ (2022) reflected on migration and belonging. Most recently, ‘Undone’ (2024) addressed the tension between knowledge, mortality, and technological advancement.
‘Second Nature | Manyonga’ continues this trajectory of inquiry, reaffirming Zimbabwe’s commitment to presenting work that bridges local narratives and global discourses. Under the direction of Raphael Chikukwa and Fadzai Veronica Muchemwa, the pavilion positions Zimbabwean art within contemporary debates about perception, adaptation, and the politics of technology, offering new perspectives on resilience and renewal in a rapidly changing world.
The Pavilion of Zimbabwe at the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia runs from April 20 to November 23, 2026. For more information, visit www.labiennale.org.
