Masimba Hwati

Masimba Hwati is an artist originally from Harare, Zimbabwe, who works internationally in sculpture, sound, performance, and video. He holds a PhD from the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, Austria, and an MFA from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. A 2019 Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture graduate, Hwati also studied sculpture at the Harare Polytechnic School in Harare, Zimbabwe.

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An interdisciplinary artist, Masimba Hwati works at the intersections of sculpture, performance and sound. Known for unconventional mixed media and sound sculptures, he examines postcolonial themes by re-appropriating archives and objects and presenting them in new contexts. He collects historical, culturally imbued items ranging from cars to shoes, altering and repositioning them in a contemporary urban setting. His work has juxtaposed dances such as The Detroit Jitt and Zimbabwe Jiti drawing parallels between social and cultural constructs. Recently completing a Phd exploring the places where sculpture ,sound and performance meet via sonic territorial marking, onomatopoeic and phonetic registers particularly in Shona culture. His work is often communicated by performance, audio and recorded in film.

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His work may be found in collections internationally, including The Philharmonie de Paris; Darlene M. Perez Art Collection in Miami, Florida; University of Michigan Museum of Art; Iziko-South African National Gallery; George R. Nnamdi, Detroit Michigan; Scott White Contemporary, San Diego; Leridon & Gervanne, National Gallery of Zimbabwe; and Manchester Art gallery. During the 56th Venice Biennale, Hwati exhibited at the Zimbabwean Pavilion, and he participated in the 2021 British Textile Biennale. In Grahamstown, South Africa, he is an honorary research fellow at Rhodes University. His special projects and solo shows have been exhibited in England, Lagos, Belgium, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Germany, the United States, France, and Canada.

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He is the author of Der Seeteufel: And Other Alien Species in the Mysteriously Dark Labyrinths of the Danube (2022) and Sokunge (As if) (2021). His albums include: Root Leaf (Collapsing Drums, 2025); Hwati Collino (Alien Passengers, 2022); and Lakenights (Alien Passengers, 2019). At the Clark, Hwati will continue work on a new book, titled Chidzimbahwe Sonic Philosophies.