Zimbabwean born, Tandazani Dhlakama, is Curator at Zeitz MOCAA. She joined the museum in 2017 and has been involved in the Zeitz MOCAA Centre for Art Education as Education Manager with special focus on public programming and tertiary engagement. She recently curated Witness: Afro Perspectives from the Jorge M. Pérez Collection at El Espacio 23 (2020), Five Bhobh: Painting at the End of an Era (2018) and co-curated Nobukho Nqaba’s Izicwangciso Zezethu… (2019) at Zeitz MOCAA.
Before joining Zeitz MOCAA, Dhlakama worked at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe (NGZ) in Harare where she held various roles between 2011 and 2017. Recently she held the position of Curator of Education and Public Programming. During her tenure, at the NGZ, she was the conference coordinator for the 2nd International Conference on African Cultures (ICAC 2017) which took place in Harare. At the NGZ, Dhlakama was involved in curating several exhibitions including, Engaging with “the Other” (2013), Women at the Top (2014), ZimbabweIN Design (2014 and 2017), Dis(colour)ed Margins (2017) as well as several annual schools and colleges exhibitions.
In Harare, Dhlakama co-curated These Images Are Stories (2017) in collaboration with British Council Zimbabwe, Zimbo Jam and Impact Hub Islington in Harare. Dhlakama worked as curator at Tsoko Gallery, an independent art space in Harare, where she curated their inaugural exhibition Beyond the Body (2016) and was involved in the establishment of the space. Dhlakama has worked as Gallery Assistant at the Richard F. Brush Art Gallery, St. Lawrence University (2008-2011) and interned at Microspazio Disponibile Art Gallery, Italy (2009), Tizianos Art- Kreemart, USA (2011) and East Street Arts, UK (2015).
Dhlakama has participated in various curatorial intensives in Africa, including, the Independent Curators International (ICI) Curatorial Intensive in Dakar, Senegal (2016), the Zeitz MOCAA Curatorial Training Program in Cape Town, South Africa (2015) and the New Ideas, New Possibilities Curatorial Forum and Workshop in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe (2013). Dhlakama has contributed to the following publications, Plasticity of the Planet: On Environmental Challenge for Art and Its Institutions, Something We Africans Got, Africanah, The Herald Newspaper, Panorama, Jewel, Stitch and Artlife magazines.
Dhlakama is Beit Scholar. She holds an MA in Art Gallery and Museum Studies from the University of Leeds, UK (2015) and a BA in Fine Art and Political Science, Magna Cum Laude from St. Lawrence University, USA (2011).
