Online Reporter
Mbulelo Mpofu [email protected]
As climate change intensifies and biodiversity continues to decline across the globe, a groundbreaking exhibition in Bulawayo is looking to the past for solutions to the future.
In a bold convergence of art, culture and environmental advocacy, Black The New Green (BTNGreen), in partnership with the Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe, is presenting Taboos and Conservation: Back to the Future, an ambitious exhibition that explores how indigenous knowledge systems can inform contemporary conservation efforts.
Running from June 19 to August 19 at the Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe, the two-month exhibition and public programme creates a unique platform where contemporary artistic practice, ancestral wisdom and urgent ecological conversations intersect.
The initiative builds on the success of last year’s mini performance art festival of the same name, which debuted at Matobo’s Amagugu International Heritage Centre (AIHC) under the curatorial guidance of Bulawayo-based visual artist Fisani Nkomo and Dr Andrew Mulenga. This year’s expanded edition evolves into a comprehensive institutional residency that interrogates the role traditional African environmental governance can play in addressing today’s ecological challenges.
At the heart of BTNGreen’s philosophy is the belief that scientific data alone cannot reverse environmental degradation. Sustainable solutions, the organisation argues, must also resonate culturally. Through contemporary art, public dialogue and community engagement, BTNGreen seeks to create spaces where artists, researchers, policymakers and indigenous knowledge holders can exchange ideas and collaborate on environmental solutions.
The exhibition examines how traditional environmental governance systems, cultural practices and indigenous knowledge can contribute meaningfully to conversations around climate resilience, heritage preservation and sustainable development. By hosting the project within the Natural History Museum, the organisers deliberately position living cultural memories alongside scientific archives, encouraging audiences to rethink environmental stewardship through both indigenous and scientific lenses.
A major highlight of the programme is the Taboos Indaba, a seminar series themed “Conversations on Indigenous Knowledge, Conservation and Environmental Futures”. The series opens with discussions centred on amazilo and indigenous environmental knowledge, exploring how taboos, oral traditions and totemic systems regulated human interaction with nature long before formal conservation policies existed.
Traditional leaders, elders and cultural historians will examine how sacred landscapes protected biodiversity and how indigenous resource management practices functioned as effective conservation tools for generations.
On Friday, attention shifts to the creative sector with a symposium titled “Art, Taboos and Environmental Discourse: Contributions from Practice”, hosted by the Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) Department of Creative Art and Design.
Subsequent discussions will explore the intersection of culture, conservation and climate change, bringing together academics, environmental practitioners and conservation organisations to assess how traditional knowledge can complement scientific approaches in tackling environmental challenges. Themes such as community-led conservation, climate adaptation and natural resource governance will feature prominently.
The third panel turns to the role of art, storytelling and creative practice in shaping environmental consciousness. Artists, curators, writers and filmmakers will discuss climate communication, the importance of museums as active spaces for public engagement, and the power of storytelling in preserving ecological knowledge across generations.
Concluding the series is a forward-looking dialogue titled “Reimagining the Future: From Dialogue to Action”, which aims to transform discussions into practical interventions. Policymakers, youth representatives and community leaders will draw from insights generated throughout the exhibition to formulate recommendations on policy reform, intergenerational knowledge transfer and sustainable partnerships for a more resilient future.
Far from being an academic exercise, the Taboos Indaba has been designed as an outcome-driven platform intended to foster meaningful collaboration between indigenous and contemporary knowledge systems.
Among its anticipated outcomes are practical policy recommendations for environmental stewardship, strengthened partnerships between institutions and communities, and the documentation of oral ecological histories that are increasingly at risk of disappearing.
The organisers also plan to compile and archive a comprehensive record of proceedings for future educational, cultural and scientific research. Additionally, the programme’s structured four-panel framework serves as a blueprint for an ongoing open call for panellists, enabling researchers, artists and traditional knowledge custodians to contribute directly to the discourse.
