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Not many designers leave their country of birth because they have no other choice. This has, however, been the case with Zimbabwe-born designer-in-exile, Chaz Mayivane-Davies. For more than three decades his work has taken on issues of consumerism, health, nutrition, social responsibility, the environment and human rights. Until 2000 he was the principal of The Maviyane-Project, a design studio in Harare. A hostile political climate turned a temporary leave from Zimbabwe into a nineyear sojourn in the United States. “I felt compelled to leave because of the social, humane and confrontational nature of my work...” Currently professor of Design at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, Mayivane-Davies has been widely acknowledged for his efforts against human rights abuses. In 2009 he was conferred an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He also gave the prestigious Dwiggins lecture in November 2003, sponsored by the Society of Printers and the Boston Public Library. He is also the first recipient of the Anthon Beeke International design award, Amsterdam, and recognised by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, with an award for outstanding innovator in his commitment to the struggle to transform society and create a just future. Simmons College, Boston gave him an award for courage and integrity in using art to stimulate activism for social change.
Numerous international magazines and newspapers have published Mayivane-Davies’s work and his name is found in the Who’s Who in Graphic Design, First Choice: Leading International Designers, Rewriting the Rules of Graphic Design, Graphic Agitation 1 & 2, Graphic Design Timeline – A Century of Design Milestones, World Graphic Design, History of Graphic Design, Anatomy of Design, Design of Dissent, Area: Showcasing 100 of the world’s most innovative emerging graphic designers. It was also included in the list ID Forty, ID magazine’s first annual honours list profiling leading-edge designers from around the world in 1998. Mayivane-Davies has also worked in film. He wrote, directed and produced the award-winning After the Wax — personal view of nationality and identity (1991). Mayivane-Davies shares some thoughts with DESIGN > D > How did you end up becoming a designer? M-D > I had an unorthodox beginning in design in that I first started out as a trainee draughtsman for the local telecommunications corporation in Harare. While I was there I was asked to work on a few design projects outside of the domain of my vocation, as they felt I was the only one who could ‘draw’ the job. While I knew I was more ‘artistic’ than technical, these experiences made me aware that I was probably in the wrong profession – even in pre-independent Zimbabwe,