Purpose

Kudzanai Chiurai (b. 1981) is a Zimbabwean artist. He incorporates various media into his work, which is largely focused on cycles of political and economic inequality, and conflict resolution in post-colonial societies.

His work, The Library of Things We Forgot to Remember, is an archive of materials including vinyls, posters, paintings and more, drawn from private African collections. Each time this archive is exhibited, Chiurai invites a different librarian to interrogate the archive and curate an exhibition. In his own words:

“The Library of Things We Forgot to Remember is a work that I consider to be itself a form of liberated zone. It functions independently – I work with different librarians every time there’s an iteration of it, and every guest librarian sees the process of cataloguing differently. Some approach it visually, and others aurally – and so bring to our attention dialogues and ideas forgotten but still very much a part of our present.

“I consider the archival material and recording as broadcasts of Afro-futures. A frequency that mobilised and energised the struggle for independence and liberation. It's an archive that brings the past into the present and will continue to echo as we consider our futures.”