Kudzanai-Violet Hwami

They have always been here is the first solo exhibition in the Netherlands by Zimbabwean artist Kudzanai-Violet Hwami (1993). For Kunsthal, Hwami has created new work, including layered paintings, digitally manipulated photographs, and her very first bronze sculptures. Using deep, saturated colours, personal photographs, and archival material, she draws attention to people who have often been rendered invisible throughout history—particularly queer people of colour within the African diaspora.

Hwami grew up in Zimbabwe and South Africa and now lives and works in the United Kingdom. This journey between countries and cultures runs as a continuous thread through her practice. She herself describes a ‘conflicted love for land and heritage’: a country of origin that feels like home, rich in colour, scent, and memory, yet one that simultaneously evokes distance and alienation. Heritage can create connection, but it can also generate tension when traditions collide with personal freedom and self-discovery. By manipulating images and adding fragments, Hwami blurs the boundary between fact and fiction. Her work makes palpable how identity is never fixed, but is continually remembered and retold.

Cover image: Kudzanai-Violet Hwami, You Are Killing My Spirit, 2021, oil on canvas, 153 × 259.5 cm | © Kudzanai-Violet Hwami. Courtesy of the artist and Victoria Miro