Zimbabwean Wales-based artist Samantha Rumbidzai Vazhure is set to showcase her debut solo exhibition, Nzwisa, at Pamoyo Gallery in Harare.
The exhibition will have it’s opening on the evening of 17 October, and thereafter open daily from 18 to 25 October. The show marks a pivotal moment in Vazhure’s journey from self-taught painter to an artist preparing to pursue a Masters in Fine Art.
Vazhure’s practice began unexpectedly in 2022, when, while creating a promotional video for her NAMA-winning poetry collection Starfish Blossoms, she painted her first canvases to visually interpret the work. What started as an act of necessity quickly became a revelation, sparking an immersion into colour, texture, and storytelling through paint.
The works in this exhibition chart her artistic growth, moving from early explorations into a more confident practice that draws deeply on themes of spirituality, ancestral memory, African womanhood, and migration. Acrylic is her primary medium, often layered with impasto and dot techniques to create richly textured surfaces that invite both visual and tactile engagement.
Inspired by the sacred landscapes of Zimbabwe central to Shona cosmology, as well as the Welsh countryside where she now lives, Samantha Rumbidzai Vazhure creates art that exists in dialogue with land, memory, silence and sound.
“M”This exhibition represents a turning point,” she reflects. “These works trace my evolution from painting as escape into painting as commitment to heritage, to freedom, and to a lifelong creative path.”
Through Nzwisa, Samantha Rumbidzai Vazhure invites audiences into an intimate journey of becoming, where each painting is both a personal ritual and a universal celebration.
Pamoyo Gallery is located at 24 East Road, Belgravia.
