LONDON.- Tate Modern today unveils gadzi, an original installation by nora chipaumire, the recipient of the Infinities Commission 2026, a free to attend annual commission showcasing the limitless experimentation of contemporary art. Drawing on the legends, stones, and soil of her native Zimbabwe, multi-award-winning international artist nora chipaumire, has created an immersive, multi-sensory environment that brings together sculpture, sound, and moving image. Rooted in the legends of the Shona people, gadzi takes its name from gadziguru, the oldest and most powerful female presence, a generative force tied to land, ancestry, and creation.
Born in 1965 in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, chipaumire makes work and creates ideas that straddle multiple imaginaries: African, black, woman. Her artistic practice ranges from opera, dance, installation and film, channeling a punk resistance to each medium. The artist has transformed Tate Modern’s iconic East Tank into a sculptural and sonic environment that echoes the ancient landscapes of Zimbabwe. Defined by granite outcrops, red soil, and vast skies, the work takes shape as a ‘living and breathing organism’, constructed by hand and evoking a sense of enduring, haunted resilience. “There’s no answer to what I’m doing,” chipaumire reflects. “It’s a gesture I’m offering, a gesture to save the energy of the landscape, to move this energy, and to protect it.”
The installation creates space for performance and features a custom-built dub sound system embedded within sculptural elements, activating the space through vibration as much as sound. Sound and movement are both integral to chipaumire’s practice, and for gadzi she draws on influences from dub and its punk subcultures, as well as Chimurenga music, all of which are associated with revolution and resistance. Drawing connections between the low-frequency sonic force of dub, which has African roots, and the geological and spiritual presence of stone, the work imagines how, in Zimbabwe, “God was heard through the rocks.” gadzi invites audiences to engage physically: to move through the structures, peer into their depths, sit on the speakers, and feel sound resonate through their bodies. Accompanying film elements introduce shifting light and visions of feminine presence within nature, extending the work’s exploration of land, spirit, and perception.
On select dates in June, gadzi will be activated by live performances in which chipaumire is joined by 14 performers and artists to lead a procession of movement and sound through the gallery, blending a confluence of guitars, saxophone and electronic sounds with traditional instruments of the Shona people: hoshos, mbiras and ngomas. A special edition of Tate Modern’s monthly Lates on Friday 26 June will also take inspiration from the Commission, bringing the gallery to life with a free programme of music, conversation, film and workshops, in collaboration with chipaumire. The artist’s mountainous speaker installation – designed conjointly with Ari Marcopoulos and Kara Walker and constructed by Matt Jackson Studio – will arrive in the Turbine Hall, celebrating the legacy of sound systems.
Launched in 2025 and with funding confirmed for the next decade, the Infinities Commission presents a long-term commitment to platforming international artists at the forefront of contemporary art, empowering them to realise ambitious, future-facing projects at pivotal moments in their careers. Each year, an expert panel is asked to select an innovative and boundary-breaking international artist to create a visionary new work for the Tanks, Tate Modern’s unique spaces dedicated to performance, installation and time-based art. For 2026, the selection panel included artist and academic Tony Cokes, curator Elvira Dyangani Ose, critic and writer Nora Khan and researcher and curator Daniel Blanga Gubbay. In addition to selecting the commissioned artist, the panel are also invited to choose three artists or collectives to receive a grant of £10,000 to fund research and development in their respective practices. This year’s bursary recipients are: collective Cercle d'Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise (CATPC), duo Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme, and Sahej Rahal.
