Over the past ten years Moffat Takadiwa has collected discarded computer keyboards, toothbrushes, pens and bottle caps, among many other items. He devises vast, abstract shapes that emphasize curved, organic shapes and color accents from a distance. Up close, the pieces reveal deconstructed, everyday objects, bound into expansive tapestries.
Based in Mbare, a working-class area of Harare, Zimbabwe, Takadiwa taps into the city’s informal economy, recycling and reselling the large quantities of second-hand electronics and plastics imported from Europe.
Since the end of the 20th century, artists such as El Anatsui, Ifeoma U. Anyaejiand Takadiwa form a dynamic movement of African artists who work exclusively with recycled or repurposed materials.
In his solo exhibition The reverse deal bee Semiosisthe artist continues his exploration of the legacy of colonialism, geography and global trade, and the visual potential of language. The title reads like a trade agreement and nods to historical economic and political maneuvers by European countries to control the flow of goods through colonized African regions.
The computer keys represent what the artist describes as a decolonized vocabulary, connecting the present to the past while addressing the nature of interdependent communities around the world.
“Moffat Takadiwa’s works are like algorithms that ruthlessly produce variants of the same story,” says curator N’Gonné Fall in the exhibition statement.
The artist consistently returns to the motif of the circle, evoking a symbol of infinity and a universal form found in everyday objects. The shape also reflects the outline of Great Zimbabwethe medieval capital of a kingdom that stretched across present-day Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
He is fascinated by the role of waterways as transport routes for goods, both historically and today, and the way in which remnants of colonialism continue to influence contemporary society.
The reverse deal in Paris until November 16. Takadiwa is also represented by Nicodimwhere you can discover more of his large-scale works and find out more about the artist’s own Instagram.
