Moffat Takadiwa — Tales of the Big River — Edouard-Manet de Gennevilliers Gallery — Exhibition — Slash Paris

Past: April 3 → June 1, 2024

Moffat Takadiwa — Galerie Edouard-Manet de Gennevilliers Artiste majeur de la scène zimbabwéenne, qu'il représente à la Biennale de Venise 2024, Moffat Takadiwa présente à la galerie Édoua... 2 - Bien Critique

Moffat Takadiwa creates large-scale sculptures from materials such as computer keyboard keys, plastic bottle-caps and toothpaste tubes, salvaged from landfill sites. Once gathered and sorted by color, shape and size, these discarded, small objects are woven into vast tapestries. The resulting organically shaped wall-hangings, with their intricate patterns and rich textures take on an aura of ritual or totemic artifacts.

Moffat Takadiwa, KoreKore Handwriting IV, 2023 — Touches de clavier et tête de brosse à dent en plastique — 178 × 266 cm Photo : Aurélien Mole, courtesy Semiose, Paris

Following on from his major solo exhibition in the spring of 2023, at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare, which established Moffat Takadiwa as one of the leading artists on the Zimbabwean scene, the Galerie Édouard Manet in Gennevilliers has invited the artist to hold his first major solo exhibition in a European institution. The works, especially created for this exhibition by Moffat Takadiwa and a community of craftsmen, working under his supervision in his studio in Mbare on the outskirts of Harare, enter into dialog with the working-class history of this river port and industrial town. The exhibition was specifically conceived for this historic venue, a former town hall, once frequented by the artist Gustave Caillebotte, who was an elected official in Gennevilliers. The building itself was converted into an art school and exhibition center in the wake of the May ‘68 uprisings. The exhibition coincides with Moffat Takadiwa’s participation in the 60th Venice Biennale, where his works will be shown in Zimbabwe’s national pavilion.

Moffat Takadiwa, Zimbabwe Bird (b), 2023 — Touches de clavier d’ordinateurs en plastique — 280 × 170 cm Photo : Aurélien Mole, courtesy Semiose, Paris