Launched in 2021 as a pilot project in response to the Covid pandemic by the Zimbabwe German Society, the Das Kollektiv seeks to empower Zimbabwean creatives. The project aims to identify creative artists as well as organizations that support the sector and inspire digital collaboration by facilitating these collaborations and providing a platform for online funding of these collaborations to a wider audience.
In a statement published on their social media pages, the Zimbabwe German Society revealed that Ulenni Okandlovu and Fungai Mazoroza had been selected as this year’s grantees.
We recently had a Closed Call Pitching session for our Das Kollektiv Major Grants, and we are excited to share the two projects we are supporting this year. We are delighted to announce Ulenni Okandlovu and Fungai Muzoroza as our Das Kollektiv 2023 Grantees.
FUNGAI MUZOROZA
Fungai Muzoroza is a young Zimbabwean with over 10 years of fashion design experience, including a fashion degree, and also dabbles in styling, film, interior design, graphic art, fine art, set design, and content creation. She owns two fashion businesses, ‘FungaixRufaro’ (which she co-owns with her business partner Rufaro Kasukuwere) and ‘Fungai Muzoroza’ (started as a university portfolio and turned into a business due to demand).
She is also working on growing her home store ‘Flo & Co’, which she created to create a lucrative pathway for her love for art, interior, and self-care. Fungai Muzoroza is currently contesting in a TV show called “Battle Of The Ankara” on DSTV. Fungai also created ‘Braided/Ruka’.
African women have used ‘kuruka’ as a technique for aeons, whether it be through hair or the clothes that keep us warm, and our brand took this up with the aim of becoming a more sustainable brand. The full collection name, ‘braided birthmark,’ featured knitted pieces, crotchet, and macrame soon after. All of these methods are known for being extremely sustainable globally. Our brand has come across a way to make these methods even more sustainable simply by using a plant commonly used by the Rwandese. A banana tree!
Rwanda is known for its amazing crafts and weaving. Many of their weaving crafts use banana trees as fibre, making it much softer than the sisal plant. Whilst in Rwanda, after seeing how effective this technique is for their arts/fashion and tourism industry, she thought it would be amazing to collaborate with some of the fantastic women and learn the step-by-step guide of how to create fibre from the banana plant and the weaving methods used to create some of their famously woven Aztec patterned baskets, mats, bags and many more.
ULENNI OKANDLOVU
Ulenni Okandlovu is a Freelance Journalist, Culture Curator & Multi-disciplinary artist. He was born in Matobo Hills, Matabeleland South, Zimbabwe and is currently based and works in Harare at the downtown Skeyi & Strobo Inc studio.
Ulenni is a founder and creative director of the Skeyi & Strobo Fabrik Party, co-founder of Downtown Conversations, lead vocalist and co-founder of an alternative music band, the Bantu Spaceship/s.
Sponsored under the grant is Ulenni’s SKEYI & STROBO Inc, which is a creative artists agency and studio run by a collective of artists in downtown Harare at the Mbare Art Space. Skeyi & Strobo hosts and curates its art and design platform for the SS Fabrik Party and co-hosts the Downtown Conversations, which was co-founded with their collaborators the Caligraph Co, a mural and graffiti art collective.
The Fabrik Party is set to be expanded to activate subculture creative communities in four Zimbabwean cities. The project aims to promote street art, streetwear, fashion, and alternative music, which are under-represented in these areas.
