Paivapo is a Shona invocation that begins a journey with the phrase “there once was.” It serves as the threshold to this exhibition, a portal into a world where language is not merely a tool for communication, but a sentient, migrating force embodied in the character known as Pidgin. In this mythology, Pidgin acts as both phantom and physical manifestation of hybrid languages. We never witness Pidgin in the flesh; rather, we move through the exhibition as forensic investigators of its presence. We encounter Pidgin through the traces it leaves behind: the echoes of fractured syntax and the material residue of a body made from clay, water, and cotton gauze.

The gallery space is transformed into an immersive landscape where Pidgin’s Alphabet, a visual lexicon that transcends traditional scripts, permeates the space. These glyphs are the DNA of the pidginised mind: part memory, part invention, and entirely necessary. Paivapo invites viewers to stop seeking a fixed identity and instead embrace the trace and the opaque. Nyariri’s solo exhibition tells the story of how we speak when mother tongues are taken, and how we dream in the languages we invent to survive.

On view in AVA's Main Gallery until 30 July 2026.