Tariro Mavondo

Tariro, whose name means hope, is a Zimbabwean born multi-disciplinary artist raised in Narrm/Melbourne. Tariro’s body and breadth of work spans across multiple storytelling disciplines- acting, performance poetry, spoken word, writing, movement, directing, consultation and facilitation. Tariro is the co-Artistic Director of Western Edge Youth Arts, a 20 year old youth performing arts company that works across Melbourne’s western suburbs, providing space for young people to come together to tell their own stories, in their own way and with their own voice. By providing a safe space to explore creativity, learn new artistic practices, and develop leadership skills, WEYA constructs supportive pathways for young people to achieve their own creative agency. An award winning performance poet, Tariro also works as an actor on the Australian stage (MTC, STC, Bell Shakespeare, Belvoir, Black Swan, Red Stitch, Street Theatre) and screen (Neighbours, Winners and Losers, Other People’s Problems), has been an actor in the internationally acclaimed, award winning web series "Shakespeare Republic" and the award winning short films "Arrivals" and "Home", has been a voice over artist for La Trobe, AFLW, Thomas The Tank Engine (UK), HESTA, PWC, BMW and more. Tariro’s career highlights have been training with legendary dancer and teacher Anna Halprin in Northern California and attending the Decolonial Summer School in UniSA in Pretoria, South Africa. Both those experiences inform a lot of her work and artistic practices. Tariro recently released her first album ‘Closed Beginnings’ which is an electro-acoustic/spoken word/sound art work in collaboration with Reuben Lewis, Peter Knight and Australian Art Orchestra. Tariro released her first EP titled ‘Bones’ in collaboration with Reuben Lewis (I Hold The Lion’s Paw) as part of a New Movements in Australian Jazz and Soul compilation produced by Seven Wonders. Tariro’s piece ‘The Dangers of a Single Story’ is part of an anthology ‘Growing Up African in Australia’ published by Black Inc Books (2019). Tariro is the founder of Africa’s Got Talent Australia and a Co-Founder of Centre of Poetics and Justice.