The National Gallery of Zimbabwe proudly presents Becomings, a dynamic group exhibition that explores the fluid and ever-evolving nature of identity, existence, and transformation. Rooted in the concept of becoming, this exhibition challenges the notion of identity as a fixed state, instead revealing it as a continuous process shaped by internal and external forces, time, environment, and the body itself.
Inspired by philosophical thought, particularly the ideas of Gilles Deleuze, Becomings rejects linear or teleological progression, instead embracing transformation as an ongoing state of flux. This exhibition delves into the contradictions and multiplicities of the present moment, highlighting how identity is not something static but rather something that is constantly in the process of creation and discovery.
Featuring renowned artists including Davina Jogi, Semina Mpofu, Ronald Mutemereri, Hugh Mbayiwa, Daniel Chimurure, Johnson Zuze, Santiago Mostyn, and Felix Shumba, the exhibition engages with transformation through abstraction, corporeality, hybridity, and time-based media. The diverse range of works—including painting, sculpture, installation, and video—explores the tension between individual and collective identity, physical and metaphysical existence, and the natural versus the constructed world.
Many pieces address the intersections of cultural, gendered, and racial identities, questioning how identity is continuously redefined in response to societal structures and lived experiences. Other works examine bodily transformation, where the body itself becomes a site of change, while some explore the interconnected relationship between humans, ecosystems, technology, and non-human entities.
In Becomings, transformation is not a final destination but an open-ended journey—one that resists rigid definition and embraces the unknown. The exhibition invites viewers to engage with the beauty and complexity of change, not as something to resist, but as something to celebrate. It is a space where possibilities multiply, contradictions coexist, and identity is understood as a continuous act of becoming.
