Kudzanai chiurai biography of barack
Kudzanai Chiurai is a multi-disciplinary mixed-media contemporary artist working in photography, drawing, film, painting, and sculpture. His artworks reflect on the intricacies between history, contemporary culture, and the shift, the psychological experience of urban spaces, power, war, and the impact of colonialization on Africa.
Kudzanai Chiurai is a distinguished artist who was shortlisted for the prestigious Future Generation Art Prize in Venice.
Life and career​​ Chiurai was born
Kudzanai Chiurai was born in Harare, Zimbabwe in , a year after Zimbabwe gained independence from the white minority Rhodesian rule. As, he received arrest threats following the presentation of murals and artworks criticizing the Zimbabwean government and President, in , he left for South Africa where he enrolled in a BA in Fine Art at the University of Pretoria.
Moreover, in an interview, Chiurai acknowledged a Visual Culture lecturer at the University of Pretoria for inspiring him to experiment with art even before graduating, when he further researched visual culture and activism. Subsequently, making him an activist from an artist, Chiurai hosted his first solo exhibition at Brixton Art Gallery, London in which became an international media event.
The life of the Zimbabwean artist Kudzanai Chiurai significantly influenced his philosophy. He realized the potential for art as political commentary and activism. Kudzanai Chiurai depicts the cyclical nature of history, i. Hence, Chiurai felt that he no longer belonged to post-colonial societies but only resided in colonial futures Lang, n. These pieces navigate the intricacies of colonial rule and independence, history and modernity, inter-generational gap, power, and militarized masculinity.
Chiurai has drawn inspiration from the British street artist Banksy, to create murals that reflect concerns about elections and xenophobic violence in South Africa and Zimbabwe utilizing stencils and spray paint. Kim, These posters make bold proclamations regarding violence and power in Africa. Chiurai curated The Library of Things We Forgot to Remember initially, in as his own exhibition, out of his passion for archivism.