"My work speaks to the struggles and dreams of the people of Zimbabwe."
Tafadzwa Adolf Tega (b. 1985, Harare, Zimbabwe) is a painter whose radiant, symbol-laden portraits recount the journeys of the Zimbabwean diaspora. Raised in an artistic family, he trained at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, where he held his first exhibition in 2007, before moving in 2008 to Cape Town, where he is based today as a resident of Greatmore Studios. His sitters, drawn from the immigrant communities of the city, pose in their finest clothes against wallpapers of zumbani leaves, the medicinal plant of his homeland, symbol of remembrance and protection: pride and glamour as strategies of resilience. Deeply rooted in his Christian faith, which he considers the source of his inspiration, Tega has held solo exhibitions in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Lausanne and London. His works are held in the University of Cape Town, the Spier Arts Trust and the Leridon Collection.