Masimba Hwati is a Zimbabwean sound artist based in Vienna. His work, associated with what Hwati calls "The Energy of Objects," explores the transformation and symbolism of cultural artifacts, particularly those indigenous to his heritage. Hwati builds experimental instruments that incorporate found objects—from Rhodesian coins, beat up trumpets, to rollerskates—repurposing them as a newly assembled archive to challenge contemporary and historical themes.

Recently, Hwati has turned to radio to explore the energy not just of the objects themselves, but the context of the transmission’s content. This includes projects such, Pahasha, a 2021 performance of Hwati’s amplified spear instruments, improvised vocals and movements, and a handmade leather vest cradling two radios tuned to the live broadcast on bauhaus.fm, Radio Lotte 106.6, as well as Karingido, a 2022 collaboration with Austin Richey in which Chimurenga choir pirate radio programs from late 1970s are re-broadcast for new recipients via a pair of cassette-manipulation instruments. For Hwati, his practice examines the nature of sound and its connection to power, negotiation, and resistance in the post-colony.

Masimba Hwati was born in Highfield, Zimbabwe and studied and later taught sculpture at Harare Polytechnic Art School. Hwati received the National Art Merit Award in 2006, Zimbabwe's highest individual art honor, and his work was featured at the Zimbabwean Pavilion during the 56th Venice Biennale. He holds an MFA from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, was the inaugural Radio Art Artist-in-Residence and Goethe-Institut in 2021 and is currently pursuing a PhD in Art Practice at the Academy of Fine Art Vienna. -Described by Wave Farm Radio Art Fellow 2024, Austin T. Richey