Calvin Dondo

Established artist and curator, Calvin Dondo was born in 1963. He studied photography at Harare Polytechnic from 1985 – 1988, and his work as a freelance photographer has been published in various local and international publications. Dondo’s photography has the ability to depict the respect he has for the individual identities of his subjects. His passion for storytelling through images earned him wide international acclaim.

Calvin Dondo prides himself on having travelled and how his practice draws from his on the exploration of the different worlds. He always places himself intentionally between the continents of Africa and Europe, where he is in search of his own formal and aesthetic positions. When he takes pictures, he can completely remove his physical presence with astonishing ease and take himself behind his own view as he takes his pictures. His works as a young photographer were encountered by foreign media and photo agencies looking to publish images from this very special, still all too rare perspective that shows appreciation for the people of Africa, particularly for Zimbabwe.

In 2000 Dondo established Gwanza, a contemporary photographic platform to promote reflection on the role of photography in society and to encourage young artists to explore the discipline and to develop their gaze. Dondo also developed the “Month of Photography” which brings extraordinary photographers from Southern Africa to Zimbabwe every year.

In 2003 he curated the Zimbabwean photography exhibition at “Rencontres de Bamako'', the photography biennale in Mali. In 2011 he represented Zimbabwe at the 54th Venice Biennale and has exhibited his works at the Havana Biennale, Paris Photo and multiple times at Bamako (African Photography Biennale) as well as at museums around the world. Dondo has exhibited at the Havana Biennale, Paris Photo and multiple times at Bamako Encounters (African Photography Biennale). He has also exhibited work at the Museum of Contemporary Art (Detroit), Yokohama Museum of Modern Art (Japan), Manchester City Art Gallery, Salzburg Modern Art Museum and the Centre for Contemporary Art in Barcelona. 

Foremost among the talents that have brought Calvin Dondo international recognition is the ability to put into his work all the respect he has for the individual identities of those he captures on film. This artist who reveals the nature of Zimbabwe today freely tells us of his country and the history concealed within it.

Dondo has won a number of awards including the Seydou Keïta Prize (Grand Prize at Bamako Encounters) in 2007, the Konrad Adenauer Special Press Prize. His work forms part of collections of Institutions such as the Museum of Volkerkunde and the Johannesburg Art Gallery. His photographs have been collected by private collectors in Europe and at home in Zimbabwe. His first monograph Hodhii Zimbabwe was published in 2014.