Weaving Heritage: The Narrative Capabilities and Herstories of Tonga Women

This paper is positioned within critical African heritage studies and looks into the process of storytelling with the Tonga artist community in Zimbabwe, for whom heritage has long been a contested space due to historical exclusion from self-narration. The research is based on participatory art research with eight Tonga women and four artists, aiming to strengthen local art skills and advocate for the recognition of Tonga heritage within broader creative economies, thereby fostering solidarity, strengthening affiliations, affirming ethnic identity, and connecting past with present. Employing the concept of narrative capability, we explore the intricate, cooperative relationship between heritage and storytelling in a postcolonial context where cultural narratives have been marginalised and co-opted. Our findings reveal that re-valuing one's own culture is foundational to forming narrative capability in contexts marked by silencing and colonial dominance over definitions of art. Additionally, the findings demonstrate how, for Tonga women artists, the ability to narrate their stories offers pathways to new meanings and artistic forms while reconnecting them to an evolving sense of heritage. We advocate for a rethinking of heritage-based narrative capability, recognising it as a medium for resilience, collective memory, and cultural transformation in Zimbabwe and beyond.