Celebrated mbira musician and poet Hope Masike will on Tuesday premiere a daring new video, Ndimutsewo Zvakanaka, adapted from her acclaimed anthology of Shona erotica, Dzevabvazera.
Directed by Dream Hous Productions auteur Jonathan Samkange, the video recasts Masike’s sensual poem through a female voice brimming with tongue-in-cheek exuberance and playful innuendo.
Performed in Shona, the piece gradually intensifies until it reaches a climactic crescendo, underscoring Masike’s unique blending of language, music, and visual art.
Ndimutsewo Zvakanaka is bold in its femininity, with suggestive undertones that explore power shifts “between the gammer and the gaffer,” ultimately urging lovers to “do it right.”
For Masike, the work is not only an artistic experiment but also part of her broader effort to decolonise the Black body — particularly the woman’s — from the historical weight of criminalisation, fetishisation and debasement under colonial frameworks.
“This is a reclamation of our flesh, our language and our joy,” Masike has previously said of her erotic writings, which seek to normalise sensuality in Chidzimbahwe culture through poetry and song.
The new video marks a transdisciplinary convergence of Masike’s literary, musical and visual practice. It will also signal the start of a series of reading tours scheduled to cover six provinces before year-end.
Published by House of Books in Harare in February 2022, Dzevabvazera is Masike’s anthology of Shona erotic poems, each accompanied by English explanations.
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The collection explores themes of love and sexuality within Shona culture and is available in both print and e-book formats.
One of Zimbabwe’s leading cultural voices, Masike is a singer, songwriter, mbira player, writer, poet, and arts administrator.
She has released four albums, authored four books, and toured extensively in collaborative projects. She currently sits on the boards of the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe and Alliance Française de Harare, where she continues to champion the custodianship and global appreciation of the mbira.
