Zimbabwe Artists Project

IRENE KARUVA

Irene was born in Weya in 1975, one of 9 children. She went to school through the equivalent of 10th grade. She is married and is the mother of Gracious, who was born in 1999. She lives with her husband and daughter in Ruwa, a town just east of Harare, the capital city.

Irene was taught to paint by Weya artist Milcah Mashonganyika. She got a job painting ceramics at Ros Byrne Pottery in Ruwa but was laid off after a year because of the depressed state of the Zimbabwean economy. In 2002 she was introduced to Zimbabwe Artists Project by her sister Judith, an appliqué maker. Irene likes art because “it encourages me to be creative and sharp-witted.” Favorite topics include mukwerera (asking ancestral spirits for rain, nhembe (community work parties) and village life.