About Art Zambezi

Where We Come From

Some things stay with you no matter how far you travel.

I was born in Zambia, and though I left when I was five years old — first to Europe, then to New York City at fourteen — Zambia never really left me. I carried it in the colours I was drawn to, in the art that filled our various homes.

African art was never only decoration in our home — it was conversation: from interpreting abstracts by Vincentio Phiri and Yombwe; constantly admiring and analysing works by Mulenga Chafilwa; to more personal stories of how and when they were bought. Every painting had a name, a place, a person behind it. I learned early that a painting from Zambia is not just an object; It is a worldview made visible.

I myself painted for many years but when I eventually stopped, I realised I had not lost the impulse — I had just found a different way to express it.

Why Art Zambezi Exists

When I looked at the New York art market, I noticed something missing. African art was having a moment — collectors were paying attention, galleries were taking notice — but the voices driving that conversation were rarely the young, living, working artists on the ground in Zambia today. The painters whose studios are in Lusaka; painfully romantic studious in their raw and unvarnished simplicity; studious reached by driving off the tarmac and following an undulating gravel road over small ravines under live power lines; studious with dangling lights and missing walls, maximizing light. As such, the paintings radiate an immediacy in their vibrant brilliance and technical mastery. These works are urgent, contemporary, and rooted in a lived experience of modern Zambia.

I started Art Zambezi to be the bridge.

Every painting in our collection is by a young, emerging Zambian artist. I have met each artist in our collection; shared coffee, conversations, laughs and dreams. These artists are ambitious and eager to leave a mark; intelligent, committed to their craft, and curious about the world beyond their borders. Many of them are already gaining international traction. When you buy from Art Zambezi, you are not buying a souvenir or a category — you are buying an original work by a real person whose name you should know, whose story matters, and whose career you are directly helping to build.

Get in Touch

We are a small, personal operation and we love to talk about the work. If you want to know more about a specific painting, or an artist, reach out directly at hello@artzambezi.com. 

If you’re in NYC, feel free to reach out about scheduling a visit to see the artworks in person. 

Paintings are carefully wrapped and shipped from New York.

— Art Zambezi, New York City