Zimbabwe Signs



As a Zimbabwean, like any Zimbabwean, I’ve watched and waited to hear he outcome of the current negotiations taking place in Harare to end the political deadlock. Deep down all of us have been hoping that the outcome would be positive, but few have dared to speak this out loud. We all know our president, and it seems hard to comprehend that he would actually give up power after a meeting or two. As someone who has lived outside Zimbabwe for a long time and travelled back and forth periodically I have seen signs that this day or something like it was looming. Perhaps being away for a year at a time allowed me to have a different perspective.  Or perhaps those who didn’t or couldn’t travel were too busy trying to survive to see how their lives and surroundings had changed. 

I started taking pictures of little things that I noticed since 2000. ‘Signs of things to come’, I thought at the time, even though I didn’t really believe it. And in the last eighteen months I have watched and read about the situation, unable to travel because of work or life, while these events have unfolded. A selection of these pictures can be seen here
There are millions like me who thought that the current situation in Zimbabwe was a possibility, but never actually believed it. 
I’ve added a few more links with information about Zimbabwe and the current situation below, including photographs by Alex Joe, a Zimbabwean, who has been working as a photojournalist in Africa, and Chaz Maviyane, a Zimbabwean graphic designer internationally known and respected.
swradioafrica.com/
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By Ken

I am a children's book illustrator and author. I trained as a graphic designer, and have worked in publishing for over thirty years. Nowadays I work at Harper Collins running an inclusive global imprint called Kumusha Books. I still write and illustrate children's books though and enjoy every minute immersed in publishing!

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