Cheuka Harare Art Fair (CHAF) has announced the sophomore edition of the NAMA award winning contemporary art showcase.
At a press event hosted at Mara Mara Restaurant, CHAF organisers revealed that the second edition of the fair will take place from the 17th to the 19th of November 2026 at the East End Hall, Harare Showgrounds. This edition will shift its focus from the conventional approach to the platforming of Artist Run Initiatives, Collectives and Residencies in the Southern African region and the Continent.
This will see the contemporary art platform empowering the communities that create the art, part of a broader continental and global shift within the art community that sees those directly involved in creating also being at the forefront of how their stories are told in the mainstream.
Speaking at the launch, in a roundtable session with James Saruchera and Admire Kamudzengerere; Cultural and Heritage cognoscenti, Farai Mpfunya, stated that although the fair will open itself to the world, it will still be grounded in its Zimbabwean identity above all.
"CHAF is building a fair that is unapologetically rooted here — in Harare, in Zimbabwe, in the Southern African region — while opening wide its doors to the world," stated Farai Mpfunya.
"A fair where collectors from London and Lagos, curators from New York and Nairobi, will come not to extract, but to encounter. Not to define, but to listen."
In addition Mpfunya emphasised the need of the city and metropolis to valorize the Creative Class and Capital of the City to firmly plant it as a City of Culture on the continent. This desire for Harare to be celebrated as a cultural hub is one that is shared across multiple arts sector.
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Cheuka Harare Art Fair's second edition is set to be hosted in an expanded space that shall take in a greater consortium, when compared to last year’s edition. This is part of the platform’s commitment to building on the fair's momentum and growing it with each successive year.
While having only hosted its inaugural edition, the fair has already established itself as a vital platform for the art sector. Especially at a moment when Zimbabwean artists are garnering increasing international recognition.
The goal of CHAF is to celebrate creativity, foster economic growth in the local art sector, and offer a platform for diverse forms of artistic expression — showcasing the best Artist- Run Spaces, Collectives and Residencies in the Southern African Region and on the Continent.
CHAF'S second edition will coincide with the CIMAM Conference, which is having its inaugural edition on African soil in November at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe.