Prominent animators based in Bulawayo namely Wayne Ndebele and Mbongeni Dube, had an opportunity to showcase in Zimbabwe’s two major exhibitions Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) and Texpo which were recently hosted in Bulawayo.

Ndebele and Dube’s stalls at the two exhibitions last week caught the attention of spectators in both events.

The duo animators informed that what inspired them to exhibit in the two events was to share their experiences with other animators especially teens and youths.

“The reason why we exhibited our work was simply to go out and inspire. After my first experience showcasing at Texpo in 2024 as a panelist, I knew showing up in 2025 as an exhibitor was something I really wanted to do. Meeting talented teenagers and youth who are curious to both learn and create is just as inspirational to me as I believe it is to them, and I relish the opportunity,” said Ndebele.

Part of the product that was exhibited by Ndebele and Dube at Texpo and ZITF was the Virtual Reality (VR) Goggle took which is known as virtual reality headsets. It’s headworn devices that uses near-eye displays and positional tracking to create immersive three-dimensional virtual environments.

They also allow users to see computer-generated images and interact with them as if they were in a real-world setting.

Ndebele informed My Afrika Magazine that instead of using the VR Goggles with VR Video games they substituted to simulate the Alliance FrancaiseDe Bulawayo Space.

“The VR Tour at ZITF including Frames of Africa is all a 3 man collaboration between myself as a 2D animator, Mbongeni Wiseman Dube the 3D animator, and Thando Aufait (the female French rapper and teacher at AllianceFrancaiseDeBulawayo who has been the main voice behind the VR tour of AllianceFrancaiseDeBulawayo and all the episodes we have premiered of Lost in Translation).

“We utilised goggles to enable and allow visitors at the ZITF to travel to the AllianceFrancaiseDeBulawayo and enter all the rooms in 3D using realistic graphics to make viewers feel as though they had been teleported there. We wanted people who have never been to AllianceFrancaiseDeBulawayo to experience the place from ZITF,” explained Ndebele.

Part of the spectators who visited Wayne and Mbongeni’s stall which was situated at the French Embassy stand at ZITF is the Honourable French Ambassador Paul-Bertrand Barets and multi-award winning International artist Asaph Afrika.

Ndebele and Dube said the visit by the two prominent delegates to their stall was an honour to them as both the Honourable Ambassador Paul Bertrand Barets and Asaph Afrika wore the Goggles AV.

“It was honestly a really cool experience for me and Mbongeni. We had been immersing many children and adults alike who were random passerbys. Only for the Ambassador of France to Zimbabwe to show up unexpectedly, Mr Paul-Bertrand Barets. He was very keen on testing it out for himself and he wore the goggles for the full three minutes in silence paying attention to every little detail,” narrated Ndebele.

He further added: “Asaph Afrika himself showed up to the ZITF stand under the French Embassy not only once but three times in support of what we were doing.”

When asked to share about the feedback they received from the ambassador and Asaph as well as from the public at the Texpo; Wayne said that the Honourable Ambassador encouraged them to keep up with their work.

“He suggested areas where we could improve but he ultimately gave us the thumbs up reminding us to keep the creative spirit alive. That was awesome and extremely motivating. We remained truly grateful,” said Wayne.

The duo said a similar feedback was given by Asaph Afrika.

“Asaph offered us ideas on collaboration and utilising VR and 3D space in new ways.”

Texpo attendees who were high school students encouraged them not to neglect 2d drawing skills.

Wayne said at the Texpo he learnt that learning never ends as he was amazed by presentations made at Hackanthon challenge.

“I was utterly shocked by the hackathon challenge whereby participants who took on the Motion Capture Challenge for 3D animation create their own hardware tech (with the help of Strawberry Pi and Telco supplies) that enabled them to capture motion through A.I in astonishingly efficient and affordable ways. Creativity in the realms of science and technology was something I had never truly witnessed like that,” said Ndebele.