Masimba Hwati was born in 1982 in Harare, Zimbabwe. Hwati currently lives and works in Michigan, USA. Hwati graduated from the Harare Polytechnic in 2003, and has continued to live and work in the capital city. In 2017 he obtained a Certificate in Building Indigenous Knowledge Systems for Development at Coady International Institute, St Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Canada. Hwati recently completed his Master’s degree in Fine Art from the Stamps School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, which culminated in a MFA thesis exhibition titled Dry Socks in a Submerged Canoe at Stamps Gallery in Ann Arbour, Michigan in 2019.
In 2016 Hwati was the winner of the Cape Town Art Fair’s curated Special Projects Section: Tomorrows/Today, with his solo presentation: don’t worry be happy. The presentation formed part of Consuming Us, an exhibition curated by Azu Nwagbogu and Ruth Simbao. In 2015 he participated in the Zimbabwean Cultural Centre of Detroit (ZCCD) Artist Exchange programme, partnered with the Witt Visiting Artist Program at the Stamp School of Art and Design, University of Michigan, USA.
Hwati’s most recent solo exhibition Sokunge / As if opened at SMAC Gallery in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2019. His works formed part of SMAC Gallery’s presentation at FNB Art Joburg at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2019. In 2018, Hwati’s works were included in the Montreal Museum of Fine Art’s (MMFA) exhibition, From Africa to the Americas: Face-to-Face Picasso, Past and Present. The exhibition was produced by the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac in partnership with the Musée National Picasso, Paris, with an adaptation by the MMFA. Hwati also participated in the group exhibition, Contemporary Art for Schools, which was hosted at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in 2018.