Moffat Takadiwa: Possible New Dawn
Moffat Takadiwa’s practice is a call to action, urging African leaders and societies to break free from the colonial legacy and redefine their futures on their own terms. Possible New Dawn, Takadiwa’s fourth solo exhibition with Nicodim, his second in Los Angeles, represents both a lamentation and a celebration. It is a tribute to the strength and perseverance of African cultures and a hope for a new dawn of empowerment, unity, and cultural reclamation. He confronts the enduring legacies of colonialism and the modernity it imposed, while simultaneously celebrating the resilience and cultural richness of Africa’s ancestral traditions.
The artist’s exploration is multi-layered, addressing the environmental degradation, social injustices, and manipulation of power endemic to the postcolonial African experience. Takadiwa weaves together everyday objects, symbols, and metaphors to create a post-industrial "blanket" of complex histories, one that invites viewers to contemplate the interconnectedness of human experiences and the shared legacies of oppression and survival. Through these intricate compositions, Takadiwa reveals the tension between Eurocentric perspectives, African ancestral knowledge, and the modern capitalist world—a world that commodifies not only goods but also identities and histories.
Rooted in the ancient Kore Kore proverb, Kakara Kununa Hudja Kamwe ("the mighty feeds on the weak"), the artist unpacks the contradictions of this cyclical understanding of power. This proverb, traditionally representing the natural cycle of life, is reimagined to critique colonial exploitation and the modern global structures that continue to perpetuate inequalities.
In a striking metaphor for the transformation of African societies, Takadiwa juxtaposes the rooster—once a symbol of political hope for Africa’s rise as a superpower—with its modern reality as a commodified object, it has been reduced to a staple of global fast food culture. This contrast highlights the pervasive influence of Western consumerism and the loss of cultural consciousness across the continent, while also reflecting on the entanglement of past and present within African identity.
In the artist’s hands, the histories of colonial domination, ecological devastation, and the manipulation of knowledge are woven into a powerful commentary on contemporary African identity. This body of work not only critiques the colonial past, but also challenges viewers to reflect on how those histories continue to shape the present, demanding a reevaluation of what constitutes power, success, and identity in the modern world.
Moffat Takadiwa: Possible New Dawn is a gallery program participant in PST ART: Art & Science Collide, presented by Getty.
— Ryan Castle
Moffat Takadiwa (b. 1983, Karoi) lives and works in Harare, Zimbabwe. Takadiwa transforms post-consumer waste – such as computer keyboards, bottle tops, toothbrushes and toothbrush tubes, – into lush, densely layered sculptures and tapestry-like wall works and sculptures. A prominent voice from the post-independence artist generation in Zimbabwe, Takadiwa’s work centerstage his Kerokero heritage while engaging with themes such as consumerism, inequality, post-colonialism and the environment. Takadiwa is also a founder of Mbare Art Space in Harare where he plays a major role in mentoring the growing artist community, establishing the world first artistic center dedicated to repropose reclaimed materials.
Exhibitions include Possible New Dawn, Nicodim Annex, Los Angeles (2024, solo, forthcoming); Vestiges of Colonialism, Galeria Nicodim, Bucharest (2024, solo); Avantgarde & Liberation, Mumok, Vienna (2024); Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere, the 60th edition of the Venice Biennale exhibition, curated by Adriano Pedrosa, Venice (2024); Tales of the Big River, Galerie Edouard Manet, Centre d’art contemporain, Gennevilliers (2024, solo); Color is the First Revelation of the World, Orange County Museum of Art, Costa Mesa (2024); Feeling Without Touching, Nicodim, New York (2023); Zero Zero, Semiose, Paris (2023, solo); Vestiges of Colonialism, National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare (2023, solo); A Love Letter to LA, curated by Storm Ascher, Superposition Gallery, Phillips Auction House, Los Angeles (2023); Africa Supernova, Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort (2023); Nous sommes tous des lichens, Musée d’art contemporain de la Haute-Vienne – château de Rochechouart (2022); The Bull, Semiose, Paris (2022, solo); Brutalized Language, Nicodim, New York (2022, solo); Witch Craft: Rethinking Power, Craft Contemporary, Los Angeles (2021, solo); This is Not Africa: Unlearn What You Have Learned, ARoS Museum, Denmark (2021); Mr. Foreman you have destroyed the farm, Semiose, Paris, France (2021, solo); INXS: Never Before Seen Major Works by Simphiwe Ndzube, Moffat Takadiwa, Zhou Yilun, Nicodim, Los Angeles, CA (2020); Son of the Soil, Nicodim, Los Angeles, CA (2019, solo); Thread., Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach (2019); Stormy Weather, Museum Arnhem, Arnhem, The Netherlands (2019); Second Hand: Selected Works from the Jameel Art Collection, Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai (2019); Material Insanity, Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden, Marrakech (2019); The Eye Sees Not Itself, Nicodim, Los Angeles (2018); and Chinafrika. under construction, Museum for Contemporary Art Leipzig (2017).
A selected list of his collecting institutions include: Roc Nation Collection, Los Angeles; CC Foundation, Shanghai; Centre National d’Art Plastique, Paris; Collection of Art of European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium; National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare and more.