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 Rhodesias 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, Muse dArt Moderne de la Ville de Paris
1971 Sculpture Contemporaine des Shonas dAfrique, Muse 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 Chanotas 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 Presidents
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 Zimbabwes
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.
3. Joram Mariga
4. Joceline Mawdsley, Former Exhibitions Curator, Chapungu Sculpture Park,
Harare
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. The career of Joram Mariga is inextricably linked with the beginning of
Zimbabwean stone sculpture. The exact sequence of events leading to the birth of
such a movement can often be difficult to establish. Essential elements occurred at the
same time, but with a degree of independence and the source of initial influence is worthy
of much discussion. We know thatJoram Mariga, in his own way, influenced many who
were to become prominent artists in the following years; with direct teaching from his
Nyanga 'studio' and by more general example - men such as Chrispen Chakanyuka (who
himself played a vital role in the emergence of the Tengenenge sculpture community),
John and Bernard Takawira, Bernard Manyandure, Kingsley Sambo, Moses Masaya and
others, further afield, whom he met on his travels, when - as he says - he 'whispered the
gospel of sculpture.'
9. .ank McEwen - founder of the Workshop School and the first direction of the new
National Art Gallery of Zimbabwe. "The sculptural expansion developed in only 34
years. To give a true example, among others arriving from different parts of the country
came Joram Mariga. He was not the first to come to the workshop, but one of the best. He
brought me a little milk jug carved in soft stone. I realised this was an English milk jug
for an Englishman who loved his tea! I asked if he could make a head. The head came,
make also for an Englishman, in the style of airport art as acquired by tourists. 'If you
made a figure for your own family or your ancestors?' I asked. 'Oh, that would be
different.' The figure came, this time of pure African concept - the enlarged head, seat of
the spirit, a frontal static pose, a visage staring into eternity with formally posed arms and
clenched fists. It was pre-Columbian in nature, as if a spirit image applied to stone could
create similar results in spite of a difference of race, place and time."
10. Born of artistic parents in 1927, Mariga used to watch his father and brother carve wood,
and his mother make open-fired ceramics. Experimenting with wood carving at first, he
moved onto soft stones such as Steatite, but later discovered colourful, harder stones with
which to work and became committed to this new material. Others, on seeing his work,
asked to be taught the skill and his influence gradually spread.
11. It was essential to Mariga in the early days, to return to close contact with Shona customs
and the significance of the natural world, and these themes have been consistently
portrayed and explored in his work over many years. Most recently he has challenged
himself with harder and increasingly unusual stones and not only offers respectful advice
to younger artists, but is always open to comment and discussion of his work; leading to
further refinement of his ideas. His sculpture often portrays strong messages and stories
and despite their clear, accessible appearance, contain great depth and innovation.
12. There has never been any doubt about Mariga's position as an initiator and source of
inspiration. His knowledge of the early days ensures that he remains a powerful example
to artists today, amongst whom he is regarded with affection and respect, being referred
to as the Father of Zimbabwe Sculpture.