Online Reporter
Trust Khosa and Langalihle Mhiti
THREE world-renowned Zimbabwean curators — Raphael Chikukwa, Rujeko Hockley and Tandazani Dhlakama — ended the year on a high note by being named among the 50 African Influential Curators of 2025.
This was highlighted on the africanscolumn.com website, whose comprehensive data collection serves as a significant marker of excellence, showcasing Zimbabwe’s impact on the global arts scene.
The trio also made history, as the accolades were inaugurated this year at a time when Zimbabwean art is in demand.
Additionally, the inclusion of this trio among Africa’s top 50 curators further attests to the fact that the visual arts sector is in capable hands.
After all, Zimbabwe has been making an impression in visual arts, with most of its creatives shining internationally.
Despite being less appreciated at home, these creatives have remained steadfast in their quest to conquer and make an impression on the global map. According to the website, Chikukwa was honoured for his distinction in the creative community, not only as an administrator but as a practitioner too. “Raphael Chikukwa is the “Guardian of Zimbabwe’s Visual Voice,” serving as the Executive Director of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe. He is famous for his “Nationalism through Curation,” having founded the Zimbabwe Pavilion at the Venice Biennale to ensure the visibility of his country’s artists on the world stage,” reads part of the glowing tribute about Chikukwa.
He was also honoured for his work, which focused on “Post-Independence Rhetoric,” investigating how Zimbabwe’s turbulent history can be told through its thriving stone sculpture and painting scenes. His visionary leadership has elevated local creatives.
“In 2025, Chikukwa led the Harare Biennale, which focused on the theme of ‘Resilience and Repair’.”
“He also served on multiple 2025 international juries, including the Dakar Biennale, where he advocated for a “Pan-African Curatorial Bloc.” His work this year has been critical in stabilising the Zimbabwean art market, successfully launching a 2025 endowment fund to support the country’s national collection. He is on this list because he is the primary defender of Zimbabwe’s artistic independence in 2025.”
As for Hockley, she was also honoured as a curator of Black American modernisation and currently serves as the Arnhold Associate Curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
“Her work is “survey-centric,” focusing on how African diasporic artists have built the American identity. In 2025, she reached a peak of institutional power, curating the largest museum surveys for Black artists in MoMA’s and the Whitney’s history, effectively rewriting the ‘American Sublime’ to include the Black experience. “In 2025, Hockley organised the blockbuster Whitney survey Amy Sherald: American Sublime, which brought together 50 major paintings to examine the ‘interiority and selfhood” of Black Americans.
She also participated in the 2025 Whitney Biennial, curating a section that spotlighted transnational connections between the US and Southern Africa. Her role in 2025 is essential because she is the primary curator mapping the “Continuum of Black Identity’ across the Atlantic,” reads part of the website’s tribute to the revered curator. Additionally, Dhlakama earned her place among the elite as a curator of “Global Africa,” known for her ability to track the movement of African aesthetics across the Atlantic.
Other curators who made it onto this long list include :
Aicha Diallo from Senegal, Aindria Emelife (Nigeria), Khalil Morad El Ghilali and EL Mehdi Belyasmine (Morocco), Azu Nwagbogu (Nigeria), Bibi Seck (Senegal), Boitumelo Makousu (South Africa), Bonaventure Soh Bejeng (Cameroon), Brice Yonkeu (Cameroon), Chika OkekeAgulu (Nigeria), Courage Dzidula Kpodo (Ghana), Daudi Karungi (Uganda), Ekow Eshun (Ghana), El Hadji Malick Ndiaye (Senegal), Elizabeth Kerunen (Uganda), Gabi Ngcobo (South Africa), Heba El-Kayal (Egypt), Jareh Das (Nigeria), Jumoke Sanwo (Nigeria), Kabage Karanja and Stella Mutegi (Kenya), Khaled Hafez (Egypt), Lemn Sissay (Ethiopia), Marie Helene Pereira (Senegal), Marilyn Bell (Cameroon), Massamba Mbaye (Senegal), Mpho Matsipa (South Africa), Myriam Ben Salah (Tunisia), N’gone Fall (Senegal), Nabila Nabi (Egypt), Nana Biamah Ofosu (Ghana), Nonthobeko Ntombelo (South Africa), Nuna Adisenu-Doe (Ghana), Oluremi Onabanjo (Nigeria), Omar Kholef (Egypt), Osei Bon-su (Egypt), Paul Mahop (Cameroon), Paula Nascimento (Angola), Portia Malatjie (South Africa), Salah Hassan (Su-dan), Salimata Diop (Senegal), Simon Njami (Cameroon), Sonia Lawson (Togo), Titi Ogufere (Nigeria), Tokini Peterside-Schebig (Nigeria), Touria El Glaoui (Morocco), Ogochukwu-Smooth Nzewi (Nigeria), and Wairimu Nduba from Kenya
