In a yet another clear and bold statement by his Excellence President ED Mnangagwa dubbed leaving no place and no one behind. Bulawayo is set to host a historic event at a new upmarket restaurant and studio known as Kori Studio located in Ilanda Suburb as Kori Studios is set to open Birds of Zimbabwe on 18 September 2026.
The program set to run from 18 to 25 September 2026 at the Kori Studio located at 16 Francis Warren Road Illand Bulawayo is set to host six of Zimbabwe sculptors from across the country.Expect no timid work. Expect stone that seems to breathe-eagles caught mid-stoop, owls holding their ancient council, hornbills and rollers rendered with a patience that only the chisel teaches. Expect triptychs that speak of resistance and renewal, mixed-media pieces that push the sculptural tradition somewhere it has not been before and a conservation conscience running quietly through it all.
These are artists at the beginning of national careers, and there is a particular electricity in seeing them now, before the world does.
The exhibition asks a simple question: what happens when the permanence of Zimbabwean stone meets the fleeting, majestic spirits of our native birds? The answer says something about us as a people — rooted, yet forever reaching upward.
It matters, too, where this is happening. Bulawayo has always been Zimbabwe's cultural capital in spirit, if not always in investment. An exhibition of this ambition, staged here, curated here — by Talent Kapadza, resident artist at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo, under Lead Curator Dr T. Muganyi of Kōri Studio — is a statement that the city's creative economy deserves to be taken seriously, and that our artists need not leave home to be seen.
The closing ceremony will be graced by a distinguished line-up of guests: Hon. K.D. Mnangagwa (MP), Deputy Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, attends as Guest of Honour, addressing the creative sector's role in spurring economic development; Mr N. Sibanda, Legal Practitioner at Tanaka Law Chambers, speaks on intellectual property protection for artists and the creative industry. I Councillor Mpumelelo Moyo has also been invited to reflect on the significance of art in Bulawayo and the nation.
We are grateful as the City of Kings to host such an event which reflects strongly on our rich cultural background and blends it with modernity in an upmarket Studio. In the past such events have been centralized in Harare but the second republic has been rotating such events which we welcome as a City. By hosting such events in the City we constantly increase our GDP and per capita spent in the City. It also gives us exposure to learn about the great history of our country.
Again we are also pleased to have such places as Kori Studios being developed in Bulawayo. It's a place built with such modernity which brings a vast variety of places where people can visit and relax and enjoy fresh meals. As the Chairperson of the Finance and Development Committee I am always happy to see Bulawayo developing. Such places also employ our youths therefore bringing them out of drugs and substance abuse.
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I wish to see more such play opening up in the City and more programs of cooperation between the City of Bulawayo and the government. Such cooperation quickens the development and that is what we are longing for as the City of Bulawayo so as to proudly claim our City of Kings status in a developed and mordenised environment.
Personal opinion by Councillor Mpumelelo Moyo Ward 26 councillor and chairperson of finance and development committee for the city of Bulawayo.
