We are looking for artists who want to spend real time in a Zimbabwean village, work beside the artists who live in it, and see Victoria Falls from the inside rather than from a tour bus. You bring your practice. We bring the place, the people and the walls.
An artist who arrives in Monde and a carver who has worked here for thirty years do not need a shared language to get started. They need a surface and something to make a mark with. Within an hour they are arguing about composition. That is the whole idea, and it is why this programme exists.
We are not asking you to come and help poor people. We are asking you to come and work. The Trust runs on the belief that making things is a serious livelihood and a serious way of thinking about a place — and that belief gets stronger every time an artist from somewhere else takes the work here as seriously as they take their own.
What our artists get from you is exposure to another practice, another set of habits, another way of solving the same problem. What you get is a landscape that will take you apart and a group of people who will not treat you like a tourist.
Painters, muralists, printmakers, sculptors, ceramicists and potters, textile and fibre artists, jewellers and metalworkers, photographers and film-makers, illustrators, writers and musicians.
Emerging or established, both work. What matters is that you have a practice you can carry on somewhere hot, dusty and full of interruptions — and that you are genuinely interested in what the artists here are doing, not just in the backdrop.
Nothing here is rigid. This is the rhythm most visiting artists settle into by the end of their first week.
Your own work, in the Dingx Creativity Studio, alongside the artists who work here every day. Shared space, shared stock, a lot of looking over shoulders. Most people find their practice shifts.
Out into Monde and the surrounding villages with someone who lives there. Drawing, photographing, sitting with people, learning how a pot or a basket is actually made by the person who makes it. Not a village tour — you go because you are working.
The Falls, the rainforest, the gorges, the river at sunset, the markets in town. You are a short drive from one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World and we would think less of you if you didn't go and stare at it.
A mural, a painted panel, a piece for the Centre — something that stays after you have gone. We will find you the wall and the paint; the image is yours.
One session, in your own medium, taught to whoever wants to come. Lino cut, portrait drawing, glaze, a camera. Teach the thing you actually know rather than the thing you think they need.
Evenings are long and there is nowhere to be. This is where most of the good work actually gets decided.
We ask you for three things. One piece that stays here — a mural, a panel, a work for the Centre. One workshop in your medium. And your honest attention: work beside our artists, not in front of them.
We give you a place in the studio and in the life of the village; introductions that would take you months to make on your own; local materials at what they actually cost; a wall; a hanging at the Monde Art & Craft Centre if your stay is long enough; and photographs of your work in progress that are worth having.
No fee either way. You are not paying us and we are not paying you.
Victoria Falls town can supply a surprising amount at short notice. Specialist materials cannot be assumed — bring them.
| Here already | Studio space and benches, basic hand tools, exterior wall paint and brushes for mural work, found and recycled material in quantity, local clay, wood and wire, and people who know how to work all of it. |
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| Bring with you | Your own pigments, inks, specialist brushes, carving tools, camera gear, lenses, laptop, and anything with a brand name you care about. Bring spares. |
| Leave behind | Materials are the most useful gift you can give the Trust. Whatever you don't use up goes straight into the next workshop. |
| Power & internet | [Confirm: solar, grid, load-shedding pattern, and whether there is wifi at the Centre. Artists always ask] |
| Kiln, press, darkroom | [Confirm what firing, printing or darkroom facilities exist, if any — ceramicists and printmakers need to know before they book] |
| How long | Long enough to make something. Two weeks is the sensible minimum; a month is better. [Confirm your preferred minimum] |
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| Cost to you | No fee to the Trust. You cover your flights, visa, insurance, accommodation, food and your own materials. |
| Where you stay | You book your own. We'll send a list of guesthouses and self-catering places near the Centre with honest notes and a fair price for each. |
| Getting here | Fly into Victoria Falls International (VFA), or cross from Livingstone in Zambia. Monde is a short drive out of town and we'll help you arrange the transfer. |
| Visa | Most nationalities get a visa on arrival in Zimbabwe; the KAZA UniVisa covers Zambia as well. Check the current rules for your passport — they change. |
| Selling your work | Anything you make here is yours. If you want to sell it through the Centre while you're here, you can, on the same terms as everyone else: the money goes to the person who made it. |
| Groups & schools | Art schools, university groups and collectives are welcome. Tell us numbers and dates early — a group changes what we can plan. |
There is no form to labour over. Send a link to your portfolio or your Instagram, a paragraph about what you’d want to make here, and roughly when you’re free. That’s it.
Email
info@humbleafricantrust.org
WhatsApp
+263 77 348 6919
Instagram
@humble.africantrust
[Insert the artist application form here — see README step 7.]
