Heiko-Thandeka Ncube, the artist, filmmaker, educator and activist has passed away in Berlin. He was a UdK graduate and an emerging and cherished member of the Berlin art scene. His film The early rains which wash away the chaff before the spring rains, about the Gukurahundi genocide in the Ndebele provinces in the 1980s which targeted his family, premiered at the Berlinale earlier this year to critical acclaim.

Born in Harare, of Zimbabwean and German descent, Ncube moved to Germany as a child. As an educator he developed art classes and activities for unprivileged children of migrant background in German schools and for institutions such as Haus der Kulturen der Welt and Hamburger Bahnhof. He also did art mediation at Berlin Biennale 10 and 12. During his time at Berlin’s Universität der Künste he led the anti-racism student protests in July 2020 holding the university accountable at the height of BLM.