Online Reporter
Trust Khosa
Zimpapers Arts and Entertainment Hub
SWEDEN-BASED visual communicator and typeface designer, Taurai Valerie Mtake, is back in Harare ahead of her solo exhibition on font design titled “Fragments I Carried Back.”
Opening on April 23, the exhibition — bringing together pieces from her practice in type design, graphic design, symbols, and visual experiments over the years — will be held at Be Art Become All (BABA) Gallery, No. 4 Brighton Road, Mt Pleasant, Harare.
Mtake’s exhibition, which comes two years after her lettering, “Madimi One,” was considered for Google Fonts 2024, is expected to attract some of the top creatives, collectors, and academics, including Professor Saki Mafundikwa. In an interview with Zimpapers Arts and Entertainment, Mtake said she was ready for the exhibition. “I am ready for this exhibition running Thursday next week (23 April), where I want people to come and appreciate my work,” she said. “It’s all about my journey as a font designer — from the time I was around until I went to study in Sweden. “I want Zimbabweans to appreciate these designs as well, bringing awareness of their significance.” The 33-year-old was also determined to hold a workshop on 25 April, reflecting on her journey, the creative process of font design, and her love for this rare art form. Mtake, who — along with Nigeria’s Chisaokwu Joboson, whose “Ojuju” font was also endorsed for Google Fonts in 2024—has vowed to continue working hard.
“What I want at the moment is for Zimbabweans to appreciate this art form. On that note, I urge them to come for the exhibition and learn this new phenomenon.
“I am looking forward to seeing one of my mentors, Professor Saki Mafundikwa, at the exhibition.” According to her curatorial statement, “Fragments I Carried Back,” the exhibition brings together work shaped by movement, curiosity, and a deep engagement with language and culture.
“The exhibition gathers pieces of her practice from type design, graphic design, symbols to visual experiments, each one reflecting a moment of questioning, learning and re-seeing.
“Working across different spaces shifted how she understands where she comes from. What once felt natural became something she had to look at again — to break apart and to rebuild with intention. “This body of work doesn’t try to resolve anything.
It holds fragments of memory, of identity, of meaning, and places them side by side, allowing them to speak to each other. For a moment, they are brought back together here,” reads the statement. Mtake, who made global headlines with her “Madimi One” Google Font, began working on it in 2016 for her Bachelor’s Honours degree thesis. After years of resilience, she finally succeeded in 2023, when Simon Charwey suggested that Google Fonts (Thomas Phinney and Dave Crossland) consider her work.
She was given three months to digitise the font again and make it available for Google Fonts, and it was embraced. In a 2024 interview, Mtake revealed her source of inspiration. “I get inspired by many things around me — my language and my culture.
I am interested in the potential of design in contemporary African visual culture, where traditional cultural practices are often turned into staged authenticity, in which the history of meaning in objects and designs is often lost — sometimes even to the producers themselves.
“It is in this way that important indigenous systems have been transfigured in contemporary society, merely as elements of decorative art or a curio for mass consumption,” she said. According to her profile, Mtake is an award-winning designer widely recognised for designing the Madimi One Google Font.
Currently under a year-long working grant with the Swedish Grants Committee, her innovations seek to reclaim traditional designs central to African identity and cultural heritage.
Her extensive academic background includes a Master of Arts in Visual Communication from Konstfack in Sweden, a BA Honours in Visual Communication from Green-side Design Centre in South Africa, and a Diploma in Design and New Media from the Zimbabwe Institute of Visual Arts.
Professionally, she has collaborated with numerous brands to develop visual identities and global campaigns. Now that she is ready for her solo exhibition, Mtake keeps on dreaming of becoming an international star.
