Harare Art Meeting

Amid the global interest in African contemporary art over the past decade, Zimbabwean art community is a unique phenomenon defying all expectations. Despite being a small country of 14 million , economic and political turbulence, a tiny art collector base and no international quality art schools, Zimbabwean contemporary artists are punching well above their weight in the international ranks. Numerous artists of ‘born free’ (post 1980) generation are represented in major museums and international biennales, among them Misheck Masamvu, Moffat Takadiwa, Portia Zvavahera, Gresham Tapiwa Nyaude, Gareth Nyandoro, Helen Teede, Wycliffe Mundopa, Virginia Chihota and Troy Makaza. Artists collectives and experimental spaces are being developed and producing artists committed to excellence despite all the odds. Having opened doors in 2009, First Floor Gallery Harare, has been working closely with the artists in the city, developing careers, supporting educational initiatives as well as creative and cultural actors across the board.

​Since 2017, we began welcoming international visitors to Harare and developing touring events, studio visits and programmes to give our guests insight and to engagement with our phenomenally dynamic art scene, as well as supporting local emerging collectors engage with contemporary art and their international peers.

Harare Art Meeting is designed as an in-depth experience to bring together small groups of art lovers from professional to novice, local and international to engage with Zimbabwean contemporary art in its own context, to see the inspiration for the colours, the sounds and the stories behind the art works, to meet the artists and their supporters and to share the warm hospitality of Harare’s sunny winter in July. Harare Art Meeting presents an all- inclusive itinerary for international guests, with accommodation, transport activities and catering included, to ensure a smooth experience in a new country.