Untitled XII (Must have political content)

Kudzanai Chiurai
Untitled XII (Must have political content), 2019
Mixed media on Saunders archival cotton rag paper
Work: 76 x 57 cm

Kudzanai Chiurai’s Paintings from the Radical Archive are a pastiche and homage to posters generated for the purpose of inciting publics into political action in what is now remembered as a turbulent 1970’s Zimbabwe. By excavating these press-to public posters and rendering them as paintings, Chiurai calls to attention the meditative processes required of both the painter and poster designer. The timelessness of the slogans and anthems appearing in the original posters is reiterated within Chiurai’s collage as a painful echo of their continued relevance in present-day protest actions.