Moffat Takadiwa’s practice over the past several years has evolved to elevate found objects into sculptural forms that engage with issues of cultural identity, spirituality, social practice and the environment. His work speaks potently to the cultural dominance illustrated by the consumption of foreign products in Zimbabwe and across Africa. Takadiwa’s “object paintings” draw attention to the excess and despair implicit in our daily use of products and what patterns of consumption emerge when the empty vessels are viewed enmass. A self described “spiritual garbage man”, Takadiwa reconfigures found consumer waste gleaned from the streets and dumps of Harare into almost magical compositions that seem to convey the aura of a totemic or ritualised object. Moffat Takadiwa was born in Karoi, Zimbabwe in 1983 and lives and works in Harare. A representative of the born free generation of artists, he is perhaps one of the most geographically widely exhibited and collected of the postindependence generation. Takadiwa has exhibited in all the major institutions in Zimbabwe including the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare and Bulawayo. For the past several years he has been steadily attracting international attention with exhibitions in Bangkok, Paris, Amsterdam, New York, London, Berlin and Johannesburg.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2015
Foreign Objects, Tyburn Gallery, London
2012
Flotsam&Jetsam, Artspace Gallery, Johannesburg
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2015
Foreign Bodies, WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town
Broken English, Tyburn Gallery, London
2014
Warp & Woof, The Hole, New York
Uncertain Terms, WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town
FNB Joburg Art Fair 2014, Johannesburg
Meet the Artist Project, Chinembiri Studio, Harare
National Gallery of Zimbabwe Annual Show, Harare
1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London
Brand New Second Hand, Vigo Gallery, London
2013
NO LIMITS Exhibition, HIFA, Harare!
Good News, New University, Lisbon
1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London
2012
Berliner Lister Art Fair, Berlin
Family, Tradition and Religion, Gallery Delta, Harare
KARŠ KRIEG WAR KARAS GUERRA, Octopus Projects, Riga, Latvia
A Tale of Two Cities, National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare/Bulawayo
Inexactly This, Kunstvlaai Festival of Independents, Amsterdam
2011
Harare International Festival of Art, National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare
Harare Paris, Pavé d’Orsay, Paris
Rangu Izwi, First Floor Gallery, Harare
Mbare Kutapira (Sweet Mare), First Floor Gallery, Harare/ Chinembiri Studios
Still life Exhibition, Delta Gallery, Harare
Harare Beyond Words, Gallery H, Bangkok
2010
Live and Direct, National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare!
Young Artist Exhibition, Gallery Delta, Harare
Avignon University Group Show, Avignon
Facet: Zimbabwe Now Art Competition and Exhibition, Delta Gallery, Harare
First Steps, First Floor Gallery, Harare
2009
Young Artist Exhibition, Gallery Delta, Harare!
Enriching Woman, Gallery Delta, Harare
Peace through Unity in Diversity, Gallery Delta, Harare
Walls: Berlin Wall Anniversary Exhibition, Gallery Delta, Harare
