Tega Tafadzwa ‘RWENDO – Which Means Journey’

Tega Tafadzwa moved from Zimbabwe to Cape Town, South Africa in 2008, where he is currently taking part in a residency programme to pursue his art career. As an artist who has migrated from his native homeland in pursuit of new opportunities, Tega reflects on the experiences of marginalised individuals within contemporary South Africa and the United Kingdom.

Tega's first solo exhibition in London, Rwendo - Which Means Journey, comprises 15 new paintings where individuals and groups of figures sit at ease in their domestic set- ting or boldly stand in confidence against backgrounds bursting with colour. As the title suggests, the exhibition is dedicated to the stories of his friends and family who, like Tega, have relocated in search of work and a prosperous lifestyle. His signature style of collaged figures and his neon colour palette present these protagonists in a grand and uplifting manner to reveal the solidarity of his subjects even in the face of change and difference. By bringing their stories to the forefront of contemporary figurative pain- ting, Tega positions his practice firmly in the wider sphere of diasporic art to address critical notions of marginalisation and discrimination.