Re-Imagining Zimbabwe's National Image through Cultural Diplomacy as Echoing Off Liberation

Abstract

The sanctions and Western discourses that label Zimbabwe as a country of political chaos, instability and economic downfall, have long been misrepresenting the global image of the Southern African country. However, underneath these images, there exists a rich and unique history of liberation and Pan-Africanism which can be used as a source of positive national rebranding. This research is a synthesis of scholarly data published between 2010 and 2025 on national branding, heritage diplomacy, as well as image reconstruction in postcolonial Africa and Zimbabwe in particular. The data were collected based on the systematic review of the qualitative thematic analysis method. Six peer reviewed articles, four policy documents and five institutional reports are utilised to understand the role of cultural institutions, in particular, museums, as soft power tools. The results indicate that although Zimbabwe is associated with a strong liberation triumph over political oppression, the world tends to view this strong resilience negatively because of disjointed branding strategies and the lack of use of the narrative focused on heritage, which the country has, over the years, defined or portrayed itself with. The study also argues that re-creating the image of Zimbabwe on the national level, means reclaiming the historical narrative using museums as diplomatic platforms, creating a unified heritage-based branding strategy based on the memory of liberation and togetherness.