Stevenson gallery's first exhibition at their new gallery in Parktown North is by acclaimed Zimbabwean artist Portia Zvavahera. The exhibition title Talitha Cumi (an Aramaic phrase meaning ‘Little girl, arise’) refers to a Biblical story in which Jesus resurrects a child from the dead and speaks to the exhibition's central theme of longing for spiritual transcendence and freedom from the ongoing cycle of human suffering. 

Motivated by her deep sense of spirituality, Zvarahera's artworks focus particularly on feminine experiences of faith, relationships and motherhood. Zvavahera often draws inspiration from her dreams, describing her style as working with "what I see with spiritual eyes" and she cites a dream about "a struggle and a desire to be lifted up" as the starting point for this latest body of work.