What are you looking for?
Explore Abantu Archives through research tools, collections, historical context and chronological discovery.
At a glance
A growing research collection of books, journals, reports, bulletins and other historical materials.
From the master catalogue
Explore the Archive — 1,045 Records
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The Philosophy
History, heritage, accountability.
I work from the premise that historical records are not neutral. Who controls the archive shapes what is remembered — and what is not. Abantu Archives exists to correct that imbalance.
- Centring African-produced and African-held records across Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi, and Central Africa
- Fighting fragmentation and institutional indifference to regional memory
- Supporting independent scholarship and community-based documentation
- Building long-term archival infrastructure through collaborative work — by design, not by accident
- Holding the archive to the same standards I ask of the sources it holds
- This is slow, deliberate work — by design.
What I do
Research, digitisation, and access.
Archival Research and Curation. I locate, contextualise, and catalogue primary and secondary sources relating to the colonial and post-independence history of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi, and the broader Central African region. The collection now holds over 1,045 records.
Digitisation and Access. Where rights permit, I make records accessible online. Where they do not, I document what exists and where it is held — so researchers can find it regardless of where they are based.
Heritage, Restitution, and Repatriation Research. Archival evidence to support institutional accountability and cultural redress.
Independent Scholarship Support. Working with academic partners and independent researchers who understand that archives are not neutral — and never were.
Who is this for?
Researchers, educators, and institutions.
Abantu Archives works with anyone engaged seriously with the documentary history of Central and Southern Africa.
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The Director
About Tinashe Hwindingwi
Tinashe Hwindingwi
Founder & Director, Abantu Archives — Harare, Zimbabwe
I founded Abantu Archives in 2020. My background spans archival research, graphic design, and documentary photography — work that has consistently centred on the production, presentation, and preservation of African histories.
I am a Zimbabwe Media Commission-accredited photojournalist, a former Senior Graphic Designer at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, and a member of the Historical Society of Zimbabwe. I serve as Core Community Brand Developer for the Mapping Colonial History transnational research network.
I am an academic collaborator with the Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès and a research partner on oral history fieldwork through the University of Pretoria. In 2026 I was awarded a CIMAM Travel Grant — sponsored by Cav. Simon Mordant AO and Catriona Mordant AM — to attend the 58th Annual Conference in Harare, November 2026.
Contact & Collaboration
Get in touch.
I welcome correspondence from researchers, educators, institutions, and anyone with a serious interest in the collection. If you have a source that belongs here, I want to know about it.