Dan Halter

Exhibited

Dillon + Lee, New York, Mafuta Farm, 15 November 2017 to 17 January 2018.

Provenance

Property of a Gentleman.

Notes

The Z$100 trillion note was the largest banknote ever printed in Zimbabwe and stands as a powerful symbol of one of the most severe episodes of hyperinflation in modern history. Issued as prices escalated uncontrollably, it became one of the highest currency denominations ever produced.

Introduced in 1980 to replace the Rhodesian dollar at par, the Zimbabwean dollar initially held a value comparable to the US dollar and functioned as a stable currency for many years. In 2007, however, runaway inflation began to rapidly erode its value, reducing it to one of the least valuable currencies in the world. Government efforts to manage the crisis resulted in three redenominations in 2006, 2008, and 2009, culminating in the issuance of the now-infamous $100 trillion banknote.¹

Zimbabwean currency has been a recurring motif in the work of artist Dan Halter, who examines its shifting symbolic and functional meanings. His practice is shaped by his position as a Zimbabwean living in South Africa, and by his use of materials common to both contexts. Drawing on the visual language of craft and curio, Halter situates his concerns within a fine art framework, addressing questions of a dislocated national identity and the politics of post-colonial Zimbabwe within a broader African discourse.²

The present lot, Z$100 Trillion, is constructed through the hand-weaving of archival inkjet prints of the currency, a process that foregrounds themes of value, belief, and material fragility. Once invested with political and economic promise, the note ultimately became worthless amid extreme inflation. Isolated in this work, it draws attention to the precarious systems underpinning money, trust, and national identity. The image oscillates between absurdity and tragedy, revealing how swiftly material value can collapse when collective confidence is lost.

^1. Jeffrey Moyo (2022) Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Behind Zimbabwe’s currency woes, online, accessed 22 January 2026.

^2. Dan Halter (no date) WHATIFTHEWORLD, Dan Halter, online, accessed 22 January 2026.