Save the Date for CIMAM 2026 in Harare, Zimbabwe
November, 30 - Turin. CIMAM announces the dates of its 58th Annual Conference, which will be held in Harare, Zimbabwe, from 20 to 22 November 2026, organized and hosted by the National Gallery of Zimbabwe.
The 2026 edition will be a landmark event, marking the first time a CIMAM Annual Conference takes place on the African continent, further strengthening the organization’s commitment to global representation, exchange, and equitable cultural dialogue.
The announcement was delivered during the CIMAM General Assembly by Raphael Chikukwa, Executive Director of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, joined by Maphios Cheda, Board Chairman of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe; Fortune Kaseke, Business Development Manager at Higherlife Foundation and the National Gallery of Zimbabwe; Fadzai Veronica Muchemwa, Curator of Contemporary Art; and Livingstone Muchefa, Operations and Administration Manager, with the support and presence of the CIMAM Board members 2023–25.
Raphael Chikukwa, Executive Director, National Gallery of Zimbabwe, commented:
"Zimbabwe invites you to CIMAM Annual Conference 2026 as an opportunity to exchange and network in the African soil for the first time. Its an opportunity for the international museum ecosystem to understand African art and museum practise in its own context.
Africa`s contribution to the global modern and contemporary art can be understood from its own context by coming to Zimbabwe CIMAM Annual Conference 2026. Coming to Zimbabwe CIMAM Annual Conference 2026 offers an opportunity to reflect and understand each other in the African soil. CIMAM Annual Conference 2026 is an opportunity for all of us to rewrite the history of museum practice in Africa and beyond. Those that came before us founded CIMAM in 1962 and here in Zimbabwe ICAC was founded in 1962 and we are writing our own history in the African soil.
We invite you to an African museum to share your expertise, enjoy our unique visual art landscape, amazing cultural heritage and foster new collaborative networks that will regenerate and inspire many museum practitioners across the continent and globe. A post-conference tour to one of the seven wonders of the world, the mighty falls, Victoria Falls, Musi-oa-Tunya will offer delegates a glimpse of the beautiful tourist destination where a regional National Gallery of Zimbabwe is set to be opened as a new cultural destination in Southern African."
The official announcement was made on June 24, 2025, in Barcelona at an event hosted at the residence of collector Han Nefkens, Founder of Han Nefkens Foundation. Present were Suhanya Raffel, President of CIMAM and Museum Director of Museum M+ in Hong Kong, and Raphael Chikukwa, Executive Director of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, alongside Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, President of the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo and co-host of the 2025 Annual Conference in Turin; Elvira Dyangani Ose, Director of MACBA Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, as a member of the 2026 Conference Content Committee; and Mercedes Vilardell, Chair of Tate’s African Acquisitions Committee, and supporter of CIMAM's Travel Grant Program for African-based professionals.