CONTRIBUTORS

Tomas Lutuli Brickhill
Tomas is a writer, musician and filmmaker. His debut movie Cook Off was the first Zimbabwean film to be acquired by Netflix; and his play, Mama Afrika, celebrating the life of singer Miriam Makeba, began its tour of the UK earlier this year. Tomas also fronts the ground-breaking mbira-punk band Chikwata.263 so he was the perfect person to write about the evolution of mbira music; you can read all about it in “State Of Play”. Tomas also had the pleasure of interviewing Zimbabwean actress and writer Chipo Chung for this issue’s “Spotlight”.

Rori
We first came across Rori in 2023 at “Dualism”, the Harare fashion show for his design collective BISAMU. That afternoon planted the seed for this issue’s cover shoot with R’n’B singer-songwriter Daecolm, and provides the basis for the fashion feature “Re-generation”. Rori’s shape-shifting denim designs signal him as a talent to watch; but he’s a creative all-rounder – a talented artist as well as a dancefloor-filling DJ. “Being creative is a viable way for me to communicate my understanding of the world,” he says.

Lennox Makurumidze
Lennox describes himself as a “pixel poet” – not only does he weave beautiful narratives into his outstanding photographs, he is a master of spoken word; his book of poetry, Sowing Kit And Building Blocks, is a must-read. His photographs have been exhibited at the National Gallery of Harare, artHARARE as well as at this year’s Investec Cape Town Art Fair. For this issue, Lennox photographs Daecolm for our cover as well as for the feature “Listen Up”. Lennox is also responsible for the “Re-generation” fashion story.

Gus Le Breton
Adventurer, explorer and ethnobotanist Gus, aka the African Plant Hunter, is one of the leading advocates for sustainable plant use and conservation in Africa, helping to introduce the world to the African super-fruit the Baobab. In “Hot Off The Press” he describes his marula oil journey, taking it from fruit to skincare favourite: “I read an article about the oil from the kernels of the marulanut being used to preserve meat and I thought, ‘If it does that for meat, maybe it could do the same for my skin.’” He was right. Thanks, Gus.

Farai Mudzingwa
Farai is a mixed-media journalist who writes about technology, arts and business in Africa. He also runs Untold ZW, an acclaimed series which profiles Zimbabweans working within the country’s creative industries. For his inaugural article for Design//Life, “Making Art Work”, Farai looks at the ways in which government policies can support artists. “The time is ripe for the Government to embrace the arts and culture industries as a strategic investment in the nation’s future,” he says.