At the intersection of art, activism, and history, Kudzanai Chiurai’s "The Library of Things We Forgot to Remember" is far more than a simple art installation. It is a profound, ongoing, and living archive that challenges the very nature of history and memory, particularly from a pan-African perspective.
A Living Archive of Pan-African History 📚
Chiurai has intentionally and meticulously assembled a collection of cultural ephemera. For example, the collection contains vinyl records, posters, and pamphlets. These objects directly oppose the sanitized narratives found in official archives. By focusing on these marginalized "things," Chiurai creates a space where the voices and stories of liberation struggles are not just remembered, but actively re-engaged with.
The project is a direct response to a fundamental problem of post-colonial societies. The archives of the past are often remnants of colonial power. They documented the history of colonizers, not the lived experiences or cultural richness of the colonized. Consequently, a vast amount of knowledge was lost or destroyed. Chiurai's library serves as an act of archival resistance. He reclaims and rebuilds a memory of the past from the bottom up, using objects that formal institutions deemed insignificant.
A Deeper Dive into the Artist and His Vision
To fully appreciate the project, we must understand the artist. His name is Kudzanai Chiurai. He was born in Harare, Zimbabwe. The year was 1981. Chiurai belongs to the "Born Free" generation. This is a term for people born after Zimbabwe gained independence from British rule. This context is critical. It helps us understand his work. His art grapples with the unfulfilled promises of a post-liberation Africa. It also explores the complex legacy of colonialism.
His art is a powerful blend of media. He uses painting, photography, and film. He also creates installations. His work tackles urgent social issues. These issues include xenophobia and displacement. They also include cycles of violence and power. The Zimbabwean government once threatened him with arrest. He faced this threat because of his critical work. This led to a period of self-imposed exile. He lived in South Africa. This experience strengthened his resolve. He decided to use art as a form of activism.
His practice is a constant interrogation of power. He asks pointed questions. For example: Who writes history? Whose stories are preserved? Which ones are forgotten? "The Library of Things We Forgot to Remember" is his answer. It is a creative and rebellious act of memorialization. It highlights the voices and cultural artifacts of a people. These voices were often silenced.
The Archive as a Dynamic, Living Entity
What makes this project unique is its rejection of a traditional archive. Chiurai designed his library to be both iterative and collaborative. Every time the installation exhibits, a new "librarian" curates the collection. This process invites new perspectives and brings forgotten dialogues back into the light. This constant re-evaluation ensures the project remains a dynamic conversation, not a fixed monument to the past.
The project’s exhibition at the A4 Arts Foundation powerfully demonstrated this concept. For this specific show, a curator brought the project’s sound archive to the forefront. The curator took on the meticulous work of digitizing 30 vinyl records. This process captured not only the music and speeches but also the audible "patina of use"—the pops, crackles, and hisses that tell a story of their own. This act was not just about preservation. It honored the history embedded in each groove. By doing so, they preserved a crucial layer of aural history that would otherwise be lost.
Visitors to the exhibition could interact with reproductions of the vinyl covers printed on perspex. By placing these "records" on a specially designed listening box, they could hear the digitized audio. This innovative approach transformed a static archive into a visceral, haptic experience, bridging the gap between the physical and the digital. It allowed people to physically engage with the reproductions, mimicking the act of handling and playing a vinyl record, while the digital format made the invaluable content accessible to a broader audience who might not have had the opportunity to experience the original objects.
The Broader Cultural Significance
"The Library of Things We Forgot to Remember" is part of a larger trend in contemporary African art that uses the archive as a tool for decolonization. Many artists are critically engaging with official archives to expose what has been omitted and, more importantly, to create new archives that reflect a more complete and authentic history. This is a powerful act of agency, as it shifts the power of historical representation from institutions to the communities themselves. The project stands as a testament to the belief that history is not a single, linear narrative but a complex, multi-voiced conversation that must be constantly re-examined.
In the end, Chiurai’s work is a vital contribution to this movement. It serves as a reminder that the stories of struggle and resistance are not just moments in the past, but living ideas that continue to shape our present. By inviting us to engage with these forgotten "things," the library asks us to confront our own relationship with history and to consider what we choose to remember, and what we choose to forget.