Stone sculpture is an art for which the African nation of Zimbabwe is well known around the

world.

Contents

1 Origins

2 Post-Independence

3 International Exhibitions

4 References and Further Reading

5 See also

Origins[edit source | edit]

Modern African stone sculpture is not "traditional", although much of its subject matter has

traditional roots. There were few, if any, individual sculptors working in stone in the first half of

the 20th century but following the opening in 1957 of the Rhodes National Gallery in Salisbury,

its first Director, Frank McEwen, encouraged local artists to explore that medium. Within a few

years, a group of local artists including Thomas Mukarobgwa, Joram Mariga and his nephew

John Takawira were learning the necessary skills, mainly carving in soapstone. This budding art

movement was relatively slow to develop but was given massive impetus in 1966 by Tom

Blomefield, a white South-African-born farmer of tobacco whose farm at Tengenenge near

Guruve had extensive deposits of serpentine stone suitable for carving. A sculptor in stone

himself, he wanted to diversify the use of his land and welcomed new sculptors onto it to form a

community of working artists. This was in part because at that time there were international

sanctions against Rhodesia’s white government led by Ian Smith, who had declared Unilateral

Declaration of Independence in 1965, and tobacco was no longer able to generate sufficient

income. Appropriately, Tengenenge means “The Beginning of the Beginning” – in this case of a

significant new enterprise that has lasted through to the present day.

Further details of the establishment of the "first generation" of new Shona sculptors are given in

the individual biographies of its leading members: Bernard Matemera, Sylvester Mubayi, Henry

Mukarobgwa, Thomas Mukarobgwa, Henry Munyaradzi, Joram Mariga, Joseph Ndandarika,

Bernard Takawira and his brother John. This group also includes the famed Mukomberanwa

family (Nicholas Mukomberanwa and his protegees Anderson Mukomberanwa, Lawrence

Mukomberanwa, Taguma Mukomberanwa, Netsai Mukomberanwa, Ennica Mukomberanwa,

and Nesbert Mukomberanwa) whose works have been featured worldwide. Works by several of

these first generation artists are included in the McEwen bequest to the British Museum.[1]

During its early years of growth, the nascent "Shona sculpture movement" was described as an

art renaissance, an art phenomenon and a miracle. Critics and collectors could not understand

how an art genre had developed with such vigour, spontaneity and originality in an area of Africa

which had none of the great sculptural heritage of West Africa and had previously been

described in terms of the visual arts as artistically barren.[2][3][4][5]

Fifteen years of sanctions against Rhodesia limited the international exposure of the sculpture.

Nevertheless, owing mainly to the efforts of Frank McEwen, the work was shown in several

international exhibitions, some of which are listed below. This period pre-independence

witnessed the honing of technical skills, the deepening of expressive power, use of harder and

different stones and the creation of many outstanding works. The "Shona sculpture movement"

was well underway and had many patrons and advocates.

1963 New Art from Rhodesia, Commonwealth Arts Festival, Royal Festival Hall,

London

1968-9 New African Art: The Central African Workshop School, MOMA, New York

(Toured in USA)

1969 Contemporary African Arts, Camden Arts Centre, London.

1970 Sculptures Contemporaine de Vukutu, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris

1971 Sculpture Contemporaine des Shonas d’Afrique, Musée Rodin, Paris

1971 Gallery 101, Johannesburg

1971 Artists Gallery, Cape Town

1972 Shona sculptures of Rhodesia, ICA Gallery, London

1972 Galerie Helliggyst, Copenhagen

1972 MOMA, New York

1979 Kunst Aus Africa, Berlin. Staatlichen Kunstalle went to Bremen and Stockholm

1979 Feingarten Gallery, Los Angeles

Post-Independence[edit source | edit]

Since independence in 1980, the sculpture has continued to be exhibited in the art capitals of the

world and great acclaim has accrued to contemporary artists such as Dominic Benhura and

Tapfuma Gutsa[6]

and the art form itself.

Support and encouragement has come from many sources.

1. Sponsors of a variety of Sculpture communities, of which those at Tengenenge [7]

and

Chapungu [8]

have been most influential. Further Communities have developed post-

independence, for example the Chitungwiza Arts Centre, which was an initiative

involving the United Nations Development Programme and the Zimbabwe Ministry of

Education and Culture, who provided the land.

2. Commercial sponsors in Zimbabwe, including the Baringa Corporation, the Nedlaw

Investment and Trust Corporation, Zimre Holdings Limited, BAT (who part-fund the

Workshop School of the National Gallery) and Mobil (who support the "Zimbabwe

Heritage" annual exhibition at the Gallery).

3. The Zimbabwean Government, especially through its support for the National Gallery,

which now has regional centres in Bulawayo and Mutare.

4. Patrons who buy works or write forewords to catalogues for international exhibitions.

Examples of well-known individuals include Richard Attenborough, Richard E. Grant

and Joshua Nkomo.

5. A group of specialist dealers who display the works in their Galleries worldwide and

communicate their own enthusiasm for this art form to visitors, who by viewing,

purchasing and enjoying the objects spread that enthusiasm around.

Roy Guthrie quoted from a 1991 article in The Sunday Telegraph in his introduction to an

exhibition in South Africa [9]

to remind art lovers that

"There is a widespread assumption today that art must necessarily be international.... But against

this trend one finds isolated pockets of resistance, which suggest that good art can (and perhaps

must) be a local affair – the product of a particular place and culture. And one of the most

remarkable in the contemporary world is the school of sculptors that has flourished among the

Shona tribe of Zimbabwe in the last 30 years... placed beside the dismal stuff so beloved of the

international art bureaucracy – as they were in the 1990 Biennale – these African carvings shine

out in a desolate world."

In spite of increasing worldwide demand for the sculptures, as yet little of what McEwen feared

might just be an "airport art" style of commercialisation has occurred. The most dedicated of

artists display a high degree of integrity, never copying and still working entirely by hand, with

spontaneity and a confidence in their skills, unrestricted by externally-imposed ideas of what

their "art" should be. Now, over fifty years on from the first tentative steps towards a new

sculptural tradition, many Zimbabwean artists make their living from full-time sculpting and the

very best can stand comparison with contemporary sculptors anywhere else. The sculpture they

produce speaks of fundamental human experiences - experiences such as grief, elation, humour,

anxiety and spiritual search - and has always managed to communicate these in a profoundly

simple and direct way that is both rare and extremely refreshing. The artist 'works' together with

his stone and it is believed that 'nothing which exists naturally is inanimate'- it has a spirit and

life of its own. One is always aware of the stone's contribution in the finished sculpture and it is

indeed fortunate that in Zimbabwe a magnificent range of stones are available from which to

choose: hard black springstone, richly coloured serpentine and soapstones, firm grey limestone

and semi-precious Verdite and Lepidolite.[10][11][12][13]

Jonathan Zilberg has pointed out that there is a parallel market within Zimbabwe for what he

calls flow sculptures – whose subject-matter is the family (ukama in Shona) – and which are

produced throughout the country, from suburban Harare to Guruve in the north-eastern and

Mutare in the east. These readily available and cheap forms of sculpture are, he believes, of more

interest to local black Zimbabweans than the semi-abstract figurative sculptures of the type

mainly seen in museums and exported to overseas destinations. The flow sculptures are still

capable of demonstrating innovation in art and most are individually carved, in styles that are

characteristic of the individual artists.[14]

Some sculptors in Zimbabwe work in media other than stone. For example, at Zimbabwe

Heritage 1988, Paul Machowani won an Award of Distinction for his metal piece "Ngozi" and in

1992 Joseph Chanota’s metal piece "Thinking of the Drought" won the same award. Bulawayo

has been a centre for metal sculpture, with artists such as David Ndlovu and Adam Madebele.

Arthur Azevedo, who works in Harare and creates welded metal sculptures, won the President’s

Award of Honour at the First Mobil Zimbabwe Heritage Biennale in 1998.[15]

Wood carving has

a long history in Zimbabwe and some of its leading exponents are Zephania Tshuma and Morris

Tendai.[3]

International Exhibitions[edit source | edit]

1982 Janet Fleischer Gallery, Philadelphia, USA

1984 Henry of Tengenenge, Commonwealth Institute, London

1985 Kustchatze aus Africa, Frankfurt, Germany

1985 Henry of Tengenenge, Feingarten Gallery, Los Angeles, USA

1989 Zimbabwe op de Berg, Foundation Beelden op de Berg, Wageningen, The

Netherlands

1990 Contemporary Stone Carving from Zimbabwe, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, UK

1990 Zimbabwe Heritage (National Gallery of Zimbabwe), Auckland, New Zealand

1994 The Magic of Henry, Contemporary Fine Art Gallery Eton, Berkshire, UK

2000 Chapungu: Custom and Legend – A Culture in Stone, Kew Gardens, UK

2001 Tengenenge Art, Celia Winter-Irving, World Art Foundation, The Netherlands

Permanent exhibition, Zimbabwe Sculpture: a Tradition in Stone, Atlanta, USA, at

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Works by Agnes Nyanhongo, Gedion

Nyanhongo, Norbert Shamuyarira, Lameck Bonjisi, Edronce Rukodzi, Sylvester Mubayi,

Joe Mutasa, Nicholas Mukomberanwa, Gladman Zinyeka, Tapfuma Gutsa, and Amos

Supuni.[16]

References and Further Reading[edit source | edit]

1. ^ "McEwen Collection". britishmuseum.org. Retrieved 2012-01-25.

2. ^ Arnold M I. (1981) "Zimbabwean Stone Sculpture". Louis Bolze Publishing,

Bulawayo. ISBN 0797407472

3. ^ a b Mor F. (1987) "Shona Sculpture". Jongwe Printing and Publishing Co, Harare. ISBN

0797407812

4. ^ Winter-Irving C. (1991). "Stone Sculpture in Zimbabwe", Roblaw Publishers, Harare,

ISBN 0908309147 (Paperback) ISBN 0908309112 (Cloth bound)

5. ^ Sultan, O. (1994) "Life in Stone: Zimbabwean Sculpture – Birth of a Contemporary Art

Form". ISBN 9781779090232

6. ^ Spring C. (2008) "Angaza Africa: African Art now", Laurence King Publishing, ISBN

9781856695480

7. ^ Leyten, H. (1994) "Tengenenge", Kasteel Groenveld, Baarn, Netherlands. ISBN

9074281052

8. ^ Guthrie R (2000) "Chapungu: Custom and Legend – A Culture in Stone". Exhibition

Catalogue for Kew ASIN B001ANIIXW

9. ^ Guthrie R. (1997) "Zimbabwe Stone Sculpture". Catalogue for exhibition at

Kirstenbosch, Printed by Scanshop, Cape Town

10. ^ Kasfir S L. (2000). "Contemporary African Art", Thames and Hudson, London. ISBN

0500203288

11. ^ Willett F (2002). "African Art", Thames and Hudson, London ISBN 0500203644

12. ^ Winter-Irving C. (2004) "Pieces of Time: An anthology of articles on Zimbabwe’s

stone sculpture published in The Herald and Zimbabwe Mirror 1999-2000". Mambo

Press, Zimbabwe, ISBN 0869227815

13. ^ Kasfir S L. (2007). “African Art and the Colonial Encounter: Inventing a Global

Commodity”. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0253219221

14. ^ Zilberg J. (2006) [1] National Gallery archive

15. ^ See annual catalogues for Zimbabwe Heritage, produced by the National Gallery

16. ^ "Zimbabwe Sculpture", Atlanta Airport Site

2. Sylvester Mubayi 3. Joceline Mawdsley, Former Exhibitions Curator, Chapungu Sculpture Park,

Harare

4.

5. 6. [ The following essay has been adapted with the kind permssion of the Director, Chapungu Sculpture Park,

from Chapungu: The Stone Sculptures of Zimbabwe (1995). All images © Chapungu Sculpture Park,

Harare.]

7. 8. Born in 1942 in the Chiota reserve, near Marondera (North Eastern

Zimbabwe), his early childhood and family experiences were to influence the

directions and philosophies of his adult life. As a young man he moved to Harare to find

work and in 1966 he visited the National Gallery and saw the astonishing stone sculpture

for the first time. A chance meeting with Tom Bloomfield that same day led to the

invitation to join the new sculptor's comrnunity at Tengenege. With no previous artistic

experience other than basic lessons during his school years, hejoined thenow famous

sculptors such as Bernard Matemera, Ephraim Chaurika and Henry Munyaradzi.

However, keeping to himself, and struggling to forge his own ideas and style in the hard

Guruve Serpentine he was to spend the following two years establishing his name as one

of the leading Tengenenge sculptors. A fiercely independent artistic spirit, obviously

throughout his career, was to force Mubayi to break away from the closed comrnunity

and return to Harare. His help was enlisted by Frank McEwen in establishing the

influential Vukutu sculpture workshop, his years at Vukutu saw the creation of some of

Mubayi's most striking work.

9. The fusion of spiritual and earthly worlds as well as human and animal iconography

inspire the work of Sylvester Mubayi. Dedicated to the beliefs and traditions in which he

was raised he says "I know my culture. I know how to supplicate my spirits. Our people

they are following the English or European culture - they don't know what they are doing.

.Myself I won't leave my culture." This sentiment is confidently expressed in every aspect

of his sculpture and his day to day life. His career has influenced and been influenced by

many of the major events in the development of sculpture in Zimbabwe; the earlier years

at Tengenenge; the establishing of Vukutu; the difficult years during the liberation

struggle where his strength of character gave heart to other struggling artists. It was

during the war years that the important friendship and working relationship with Roy

Guthrie began, an association which is still strong today with Mubayi enjoying "Invited

Artist" status at Chapungu, the highest acknowledgement of artist excellence the Park can

bestow.

10. After Independence his powerful works were acknowledged at his one man exhibition at

the Francis Kyle Gallery in London. The first line of the review by Michael Shepard of

The Sunday Telegraph read as follows "Now that Henry Moore is dead, who is the

greatest living stone sculptor? Where I to choose, I would choose from three

Zimbabwean sculptors - Sylvester Mubayi, Nicholas Mukomberanwa and Joseph

Ndandarika". His work, which has received great international acclaim from exhibitions

dating back as far as 1971,is remarkable for its spiritual power. It speaks to young and old

and acts as an inspiration to art lovers and artists the world over.

11. Looking back on his career Mubayi feels justly proud. He maintains that his need to

sculpt is as strong now as it was some 25 years ago he suffers when he is unable to work.

"Certainly when I knew him he was by far the greatest sculptor there (Vukutu)... I have

tremendous admiration for him. Some of his work is as great as anything in the world.

One of the finest sculptors of this century" - Frank McEwen, 1987. In the early years of

his career Mubayi's sculpture was uncompromising and very powerful while in recent

years it has become more reflective, often tender and emotive. He is highly respected by

both the younger and older artists of Zimbabwe.

12. References 13. Mawdsley, Joceline. Chapungu: The Stone Sculptures of Zimbabwe. Harare:

Chapungu, 1997.