Who we are
OZAP is a grassroots organisation founded in 2020 between friends in East Oxford, UK and Harare/Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe in response to the Oxford #RhodesMustFall and Black Lives Matter protests. We use Zimbabwean art in a constructive way forward for education and debate.
Founder members included those pictured here:
Norbert Shamuyarira - renowned Shona sculptor
Lorraine Muwuya - photojournalist and visual arts practitioner in Harare
Rich Pantlin - creative social entrepreneur in East Oxford and PPE alumnus
Our Visions / projects
our founding vision
We all came together with an ambitious vision as a creative response to the longstanding issue of how to make a symbolic reparation for the immense wealth accumulated in the University of Oxford thanks to the resources and labour extracted from Southern Africa since the the brutal colonisation of what is now Zimbabwe in the 1890’s.
At the time, this was a global issue with extensive media coverage. Oriel College had felt obliged to set up a Commission to look into their particular responsibility as the college that specifically benefited from Cecil Rhodes’ monopolistically obtained wealth from the region. We conceived a large scale public sculpture installation that would be in three parts and called: “Oxford and Rhodes: Past, Present and Future”. Brief details below.
The Oriel Commission initially promised to give us the opportunity to present our proposal to them but they were somewhat overwhelmed by the number of submissions to them. (A rightwing national newspaper orchestrated a campaign amongst readers to lobby for retention of the Rhodes statue.) While a majority of the voluntary Commission members voted that the statue should be removed, the College decided against it after receipt of their report. (There were other recommendations to encouraging stronger representations of African heritage in teaching and students which were actioned by the College.)
The Past:
The Oriel Rhodes Statue, in a glass case engraved with contemporary poetic reflections in Shona, Ndebele and English on the past that he represented
The future:
A futuristic sculpture of recycled materials, designed online between young people in East Oxford and Chitungwiza, Harare Province
The African Lion and Oxford Ox walking together into the future. Image created using Canva AI.
In reality, this would have been a much different piece.
Impressionistic mock-ups of possible design.
The present:
Symbols of the liberation and current independence of African nations
The retro telephone box is reminiscent of the time-travelling Dr Who Tardis.
These two figures represent fighters for independence from the two main groups in Zimbabwe:
King Nyabela of the Ndebele who led the uprising in 1892-93. [Statue from “Long March to Freedom” sculpture in Cape Town]
and
Mbuya Nehanda who led the Shona uprising [“Nehanda, Womb of the Nation” sculpture by Timothy Gwaravaza from OZAP competition held with Chitungwiza Arts Centre]
There is a place in East Oxford which could accommodate a large installation with the three components. It could become a major tourist attraction for the city, generating revenue for the more neglected parts outside of the old University area, while also generating income and publicity for Zimbabwean artists.
The intermediate vision
Once it was clear that the Rhodes statue was not going to be removed from the front of Oriel College in the foreseeable future, OZAP proposed a life-size sculpture to be positioned in the grounds of the University Church directly opposite Oriel on the busy Oxford High Street. We stated:
“OZAP proposes that Oriel College commission a new sculpture from renowned Shona sculptor, Norbert Shamuyarira. His semi-abstract style of human figure with a particular theme of strong women responding to suffering would suit the requirements. A plaque would explain the context.”
This suggestion was received favourably by the Reverend William Lamb, vicar of the church. He felt that a mother and child image would be in keeping with the church’s full name and iconography of St Mary the Virgin. However, he pointed out the major practical hurdles and offered instead to have a small statue inside the church if OZAP were able to commission it.
In this mock-up, an image of Chris Hani is used instead of a mother and child. He was a popular leader of Umkhonto We Sizwe in South Africa during the struggle against apartheid. In the late 1960’s he was active with the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army. ZIPRA was under the political leadership of Joshua Nkomo, often seen as the rightful father of Zimbabwean independence. Hani’s assassination in 1993 triggered a wave of uprisings against apartheid galvanising negotiations between Nelson Mandela on behalf of the African National Congress and the racist regime. These led to democratic elections only one year later.
[Hani image from “Long March to Freedom” sculpture installation in Cape Town.]
Delivered project
With the support of William Beinart, Emeritus Professor of African History at the Universtiy of Oxford, and Revd Will Lamb, the Provost of Oriel College, Lord Neil Mendoza, was persuaded to fund a project to run a sculpture competition at the Chitungwiza Arts Centre to choose one winning sculpture to become the centre piece of an exhibition at the College and the Church. The brief was for an easily transportable artwork on this theme:
“a figurative or semi-abstract reflection on the impact of Cecil Rhodes’ colonial wars on the indigenous people of Zimbabwe. The intention is to illustrate both the historic suffering of indigenous Zimbabweans and their survival through to the independence of Zimbabwe. The piece should conjure up a sense of peace, resilience and survival in the face of extreme violence.”
The competition was organised by OZAP from January to March 2025. In the event the judges panel chaired by Lord Mendoza could not decide on a single artwork. Therefore, it was agreed to bring four pieces to the UK.
The banners depicting them and other shortlisted sculptures are featured on the separate page of this site.