Zacharaha Magasa
Biography
Born 1988 Harare, Zimbabwe
Lives and works in Harare, Zimbabwe
Born and raised in Zimbabwe with a Malawian and Mozambican heritage, Magasa trained at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe Visual Art Studio with a focus on sculpture. Having spent a number of years focusing on developing skills in various sculptural media from metal to stone, wood, plastic and rubber in workshops in Zimbabwe and South Africa, Magasa returned to full time practice developing free standing and wallworks in manipulated recycled tyre rubber, carved, painted and installed.
His is driven by lines of direct and indirect dialogues of everyday life and notions of socio-politics, environmental decay, territorial or land and cultural resistance. The stories normally emanate from my immediate surroundings with dialogues from politically motivated gatherings, distractive systems of consumerism and environmental negligence practices. Magasa’s tackles subjects such as climate change, migration, police brutality and connection between tradition and contemporary life. The narrative properties of rubber as a material are amplified in the work by its association with slavery and oppression both in Africa and around the globe. Conversely carved symbols in the work represent movement but also drift in and out of figuration and are references to both contemporary political events as well as childhood memories. Different materials and their capacity for manipulation are an opportunity to explore and develop ideas and carry meaning, like telephone lines, which move information from one place to the other or spheres which can be morph into figures, while recalling footballs, we wove out of plastic as children. Concurrently using rubber strips, which can be woven to mean speaks to Zimbabwean traditions and ideals of unity among people and unison with nature.
Exhibitions
2025: Messe Messe 2025 (group exhibition), First Floor Gallery Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe
2025: RMB Latitudes Art Fair, First Floor Gallery Harare, Johannesburg, South Africa
2024: Messe Messe 2024 (group exhibition), First Floor Gallery Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe
2023: FNB Art Joburg, First Floor Gallery Harare, Johannesburg, South Africa
2023: Messe Messe (Group Exhibition),First Floor Gallery Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
2023: RMB Latitudes Art Fair, First Floor Gallery Harare, Johannesburg, South Africa
2022: Afamba Apota, First Floor Gallery Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe
2021: Rain or Shine solo project - FNB Art Joburg Open City, First Floor Gallery Harare, P72 Johannesburg, South Africa
2021: ICTAF - MIART online, First Floor Gallery Harare, Zimbabwe
2020: Level | Mosi-oa-tunya, First Floor Gallery Vic Falls, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
2020: Re: Zacharaha Magasa/Zanele Mutema, First Floor Gallery Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe
2015: Thupelo workshop, Cape Town, South Africa
2012: Harare beyond words, Gallery H, Bangkok ,Thailand
2012: Jo’burg Fringe art fair First Floor Gallery Harare, Johannesburg, South Africa
2012: Berliner Liste art fair, First Floor Gallery Harare, Berlin, Germany
2011: Austral-Afric, First Floor Gallery Harare
2011: Jeunes Zimbabweans, Le Pavé d’Orsay, Paris, France
Residencies
2024: Narva Art Residency, Tallinn, Estonia
Born 1988 Harare, Zimbabwe
Lives and works in Harare, Zimbabwe
Born and raised in Zimbabwe with a Malawian and Mozambican heritage, Magasa trained at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe Visual Art Studio with a focus on sculpture. Having spent a number of years focusing on developing skills in various sculptural media from metal to stone, wood, plastic and rubber in workshops in Zimbabwe and South Africa, Magasa returned to full time practice developing free standing and wallworks in manipulated recycled tyre rubber, carved, painted and installed.
His is driven by lines of direct and indirect dialogues of everyday life and notions of socio-politics, environmental decay, territorial or land and cultural resistance. The stories normally emanate from my immediate surroundings with dialogues from politically motivated gatherings, distractive systems of consumerism and environmental negligence practices. Magasa’s tackles subjects such as climate change, migration, police brutality and connection between tradition and contemporary life. The narrative properties of rubber as a material are amplified in the work by its association with slavery and oppression both in Africa and around the globe. Conversely carved symbols in the work represent movement but also drift in and out of figuration and are references to both contemporary political events as well as childhood memories. Different materials and their capacity for manipulation are an opportunity to explore and develop ideas and carry meaning, like telephone lines, which move information from one place to the other or spheres which can be morph into figures, while recalling footballs, we wove out of plastic as children. Concurrently using rubber strips, which can be woven to mean speaks to Zimbabwean traditions and ideals of unity among people and unison with nature.
Exhibitions
2025: Messe Messe 2025 (group exhibition), First Floor Gallery Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe
2025: RMB Latitudes Art Fair, First Floor Gallery Harare, Johannesburg, South Africa
2024: Messe Messe 2024 (group exhibition), First Floor Gallery Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe
2023: FNB Art Joburg, First Floor Gallery Harare, Johannesburg, South Africa
2023: Messe Messe (Group Exhibition),First Floor Gallery Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
2023: RMB Latitudes Art Fair, First Floor Gallery Harare, Johannesburg, South Africa
2022: Afamba Apota, First Floor Gallery Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe
2021: Rain or Shine solo project - FNB Art Joburg Open City, First Floor Gallery Harare, P72 Johannesburg, South Africa
2021: ICTAF - MIART online, First Floor Gallery Harare, Zimbabwe
2020: Level | Mosi-oa-tunya, First Floor Gallery Vic Falls, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
2020: Re: Zacharaha Magasa/Zanele Mutema, First Floor Gallery Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe
2015: Thupelo workshop, Cape Town, South Africa
2012: Harare beyond words, Gallery H, Bangkok ,Thailand
2012: Jo’burg Fringe art fair First Floor Gallery Harare, Johannesburg, South Africa
2012: Berliner Liste art fair, First Floor Gallery Harare, Berlin, Germany
2011: Austral-Afric, First Floor Gallery Harare
2011: Jeunes Zimbabweans, Le Pavé d’Orsay, Paris, France
Residencies
2024: Narva Art Residency, Tallinn, Estonia