About Ozhopé Collective

Ozhopé Collective (founded in 2017) is a group comprising two artists (Ella Banda and Massa Lemu), a photo/videographer (Tavwana Chirwa), and a writer (Emmanuel Ngwira). Ozhopé’s main concern is to collaboratively produce art that inspires conversations and invites people to critical thinking around issues that affect people’s quotidian existence. The group’s name derives from the word “wosopé”, a Yao term which translates as “all of them”. The word was uttered by an enthusiastic boy in reference to the artists who were busy with their work. It was subsequently adapted to “ozhopé” whose root speaks to the collective ethos that propels the group’s collaborative practice.

So far, Ozhope has been engaged in four projects. The first two, Row 1 and Row 2 are installments of a bigger project that aims to inspire conversations around Lake Malawi and the Malawi government’s intention to explore and drill for oil in the lake. These two projects, funded by Virginia Commonwealth University, are done in collaboration with fishing communities along the lake. The third project titled Zomba Market Conversations took the art produced along the shores of the lake in the form of images and short videos to a fish market at Zomba Central Market with the aim of inspiring conversations among fish vendors regarding the oil project and its implication on the vendors’ fish trade. The last project is about Covid-19 in Malawi. The project which is ongoing is funded by Pro-heveltia. Through memes and short video adaptations, the project deals with Covid-19 related issues affecting Malawi particularly those related to Covid-19 (mis)information and the country’s response to the pandemic.