nora chipaumire

nora chipaumire explores the revolutionary potential of performance and confronts colonial legacies in an installation featuring a Zimbabwean shabini - an informal bar set up in private homes where citizens gather to evoke the possibilities of resistance and insurrection in the face of political powers. The large-scale plastic paintings allow for a malleable wall through which sound, light, and even bodies can transgress. The lines and shapes of the humans in the house may indeed be affected and informed by the daily rigor of dodging, running and throwing - actions necessitated by the threat of the Rhodesian ridgebacks (a breed of dogs BRED to hunt and pacify Africans) as well as by Rhodesian terrorists. nora chipaumire draws inspiration from the meaning of the word dambudzo - trouble in Shona - also evoking the ideas of radical African thinkers such as Dambudzo Marechera. Through bodily expression, the artist explores a language that goes beyond words, seeking to transcend the limits imposed by language. She uses movement as a personal and universal means of communication, enabling a more subtle and intuitive understanding.