Smatters of the Heart, CHIGANZE, Tanyaradzwa, © Tanyaradzwa Chiganze
Title: Smatters of the Heart
Medium: Oil paint
Subject: A woman with her chest open. The heart is an architectural plan of the Great Zimbabwe Ruins, which were once the centre of the Great Zimbabwe Empire in Southern Africa. When viewed from the sky, these ruins are identical to what the human heart looks like when cut in half. The image symbolises the heritage of the Karanga builders who created this 9th-century wonder. The woman’s posture and expression reflect the lost history and memory fog caused by British colonialists’ biased documentation that stated the structure could not have been built by the local people.
Size: A1
Tanyaradzwa Chiganze is an artist, architectural assistant, and Latin dancer who has been doing arts activist work since 2018. She studied for a BSc in Architecture at the University of Bath, where she developed her love for merging humans with building structures. To this day, she is an admirer of mystery, beauty, and meaning, often creating mystical images inspired by Zimbabwe, Wales and beyond. She has displayed her artwork at exhibitions including Girl Xhibition at the Temple of Peace, Cardiff, and the BAME Youth Voice Exhibition at St Fagans National Museum of History. She has also given talks about her architecture and artist work at the ‘Creative Mornings: Underdog’ and ‘RIBA Future Architects: Behind the Scenes in Practice’ speaker events. She is open for commissions and continues to sell her artwork on the platforms below:
