Artists at Risk (AR) is very pleased to announce the arrival of Nkosilathi Emmanuel Moyo at the newly-established AR-Residency in Accra, Ghana. AR-Accra is being established out of the urgent need to relocate Moyo out of Zimbabwe and his interest in developing the work of AR in Africa. Moyo’s actionist art, poetry, non-fiction writing and human rights activism have repeatedly placed him in the crosshairs of the authoritarian regime in Harare, forcing him to take up AR-Residencies in Berlin and Helsinki in 2018 and 2019 respectively. His current residency will span three months and is supported by the Artists at Risk (AR)-Bridging Fund.
Nkosilathi Emmanuel Moyo is an actionist poet, non-fiction writer and protest musician from the city of Kwekwe in the Republic of Zimbabwe. He is co-founder and Director of the Zimbabwe Organization for Youth In Politics (Z.O.Y.P), a grassroots non-profit youth organisation advocating for youth participation and representation in political processes and policy formulation.
Moyo rose to prominence through his activist art, using resistance poetry, music and non-fiction to challenge the dictatorship, government oppression and political corruption in Zimbabwe. He has been arrested several times, and faced repeated surveillance, raids and death threats from suspected agents of the state, including recent incidents that prompted the relocation to Ghana for his personal safety.
He has written three books of political non-fiction, including Dismantling the System of Mugabeism, published in 2018 with support from AR during his residency at AR-Safe Haven Berlin, which was hosted in cooperation with SAVVY Contemporary. AR subsequently hosted Moyo for three-months at AR-Safe Haven Helsinki in the aftermath of a brutal military crackdown on mass demonstrations across Zimbabwe in 2019.
Moyo’s residency at AR-Accra will be devoted to working on two political anthologies, Psalms of Resistance and Fixing the Country_ Zimbabwe. He will also provide AR with invaluable on-the-ground support in building a network of local contacts in the arts and culture community to make AR-Accra a viable and sustainable residency for future AR-Residents.
Nkosilathi Emmanuel Moyo is an Artists at Risk (AR)-Resident in Accra, Ghana. The programme is funded by the Artists at Risk (AR) Bridging Fund with support from Kone Foundation and organised by Perpetuum Mobile (PM) as part of the Artists at Risk (AR)-Network. Nkosilathi Emmanuel Moyo was previously a resident of AR-Safe Haven Berlin from January to April 2018, which was hosted in partnership with SAVVY Contemporary. From February to May 2019, Moyo was an AR-Safe Haven Helsinki resident.
