Kudzanai-Violet Hwami

The Dreamcatcher

The painting The Dreamcatcher is the direct result of the artist’s research into her roots. Kudzanai-Violet Hwami sought to find a way to immerse herself in present-day Zimbabwe, spending a month at an artist-run space Dzimbanhete on the outskirts of Harare and living with a traditional healer. According to the artist, the experience left her feeling othered by the inability to fully integrate herself into the place she called home. The man depicted in this painting is of a generation that remembers Rhodesia, an unrecognized state that existed for 14 years between 1965 and 1979 before becoming The Republic of Zimbabwe in 1980. The work is of the artist’s great uncle, his representation symbolizes an entire generation of Zimbabwean men who fought in the Bush War against the white minority regime of Ian Smith in Rhodesia during the 1960s and 1970s. At the time there was much hope that Robert Mugabe would lead Zimbabwe to a better future. The title is a reference to the fact that this generation who fought for independence, felt they did not gain much for their sacrifices. The ruling Zanu PF party under Mugabe did not meet their dreams held for independence with Zimbabwe’s economy in tatters and years of hardship and financial deprivation.