Shona art
Encyclopedia
Shona art is the name applied to the visual culture of Zimbabwe
. The term is used despite the fact that many artists now working there are not ethnically Shona
and logically it should include art produced by settlers or visitors to Zimbabwe, especially in the colonial period
. The scope of this article is therefore art that has been produced in the geographical area now called Zimbabwe and is not an attempt to impose a single label on what is clearly a very diverse group of artists.
that can be traced back to pottery
of the Early and Late Stone Age
and rock paintings from the Late Stone Age. Many rock paintings produced by San
artists between 10000 and 2000 years ago are found in cultural sites in Zimbabwe and these demonstrate a high degree of skill in drawing. Many depict recognisable animal figures and use shading and colour to enhance the visual impact. The archaeology
of Zimbabwe includes numerous pottery finds, which assist in the reconstruction of linguistic and cultural groupings within what is here termed Shona
. The pottery indicates that the people of the Late Iron Age were settled agriculturists and they have been categorised as forming groups such as the Harare culture and the Leopard’s Kopje culture: the latter established in 980 AD in a site called K2. This group moved to Mapungubwe
, where they used stone walls to separate the ruling class from the rest of the population. This settlement was abandoned in the thirteenth century at around the time that a now much better-known site was developed by others who lived on the Zimbabwean plateau. This was Great Zimbabwe
, which dates from about 1250–1500 AD. It is a stone-walled town (Zimbabwe means "royal residence") and shows evidence in its archaeology of skilled stone working: the walls were made of a local granite and no mortar was used in their construction. When excavated, six soapstone birds
and a soapstone
bowl were found in the eastern enclosure of the monument, so these Shona-speaking
Gumanye people certainly produced sculpture. Each object was carved from a single piece of stone and the birds have an aesthetic quality that places them as genuine "art". In comparing them to other better-known African stone sculpture, for example from the Yoruba culture
, Philip Allison, writing in 1968, stated "The stone sculptures of Rhodesia are few in number and of no great aesthetic distinction, but Zimbabwe itself has a place of peculiar importance in the study of African cultures".
used art, especially painting, to depict some of what they saw there. This art of the colonial period
took landscape as its main theme and many of the European artists were present as part of expeditions that aimed to inform the public in Europe about life in Africa. For example, Thomas Baines
joined the Zambezi
expedition led by David Livingstone
in 1858 and in 1861 he was one of the first to make oil paintings of Victoria Falls
. John Guille Millais
spent six months of 1893 sketching and hunting in Zimbabwe.
(1932–1977), who started to paint at the Cyrene Mission where Canon Edward Paterson taught art. Two of Sambo’s paintings are in the MoMA. Others were Thomas Mukarobgwa
(also a leading sculptor) and Joseph Ndandarika
Although the Workshop School of the National Gallery supported and encouraged painters from 1957, Rhodesia had no Colleges for Fine Arts and it was not until 1963 that Alex Lambert set up the Mzilikazi Art School in Bulawayo
specifically to encourage local people to take up art.
has, since 1986, promoted local artists by hosting an annual exhibition of contemporary visual arts called "Zimbabwe Heritage". Patronage from Zimbabwean companies – the Baringa Corporation (for paintings, graphics, textiles, ceramics and photograph) and the Nedlaw Investment and Trust Corporation (for sculpture) – initially supported the expense of having an international panel of judges come to Zimbabwe to assess the works and make Awards. Later, the sponsorship of the event grew to include international companies such as Mobil
, Lever Brothers
, The BOC Group
and Longman
. Early winners of Awards of Distinction in the painters and graphics category included Berry Bickle (1987), Bert Hemsteede (1988), Rashid Jogee (1992) and Tichaona Madzamba (1992).
Painters who have established reputations in post-independence Zimbabwe include Dumisani Ngwenya
, Taylor Nkomo and Richard Jack
.
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 also includes work by the famed Mukomberanwa
family (Nicholas Mukomberanwa
and his protegeesAnderson Mukomberanwa
, Lawrence Mukomberanwa
, Taguma Mukomberanwa
, Netsai Mukomberanwa
, Ennica Mukomberanwa
, and Nebert Mukomberanwa) whose works have been featured worldwide.
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.
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.
and Tapfuma Gutsa
and the art form itself.
Support and encouragement has come from many sources.
Roy Guthrie quoted from a 1991 article in The Sunday Telegraph in his introduction to an exhibition in South Africa to remind art lovers that
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 soapstone
s, firm grey limestone
and semi-precious Verdite and Lepidolite
.
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.
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. Wood carving has a long history in Zimbabwe and some of its leading exponents are Zephania Tshuma and Morris Tendai.
, covering fine arts produced in Zimbabwe. The Discussion page suggests that these two articles could be merged.
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
. The term is used despite the fact that many artists now working there are not ethnically Shona
Shona people
Shona is the name collectively given to two groups of people in the east and southwest of Zimbabwe, north eastern Botswana and southern Mozambique.-Shona Regional Classification:...
and logically it should include art produced by settlers or visitors to Zimbabwe, especially in the colonial period
Colonial Period
Colonial Period may generally refer to any period in a country's history when it was subject to administration by a colonial power.*Korea under Japanese rule*Colonial history of the United States...
. The scope of this article is therefore art that has been produced in the geographical area now called Zimbabwe and is not an attempt to impose a single label on what is clearly a very diverse group of artists.
Shona Visual Culture in Early History
There is an artistic tradition in ZimbabweZimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
that can be traced back to pottery
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
of the Early and Late Stone Age
Late Stone Age
The Later Stone Age refers to a period in African prehistory. Its beginnings are roughly contemporaneous with the European Upper Paleolithic...
and rock paintings from the Late Stone Age. Many rock paintings produced by San
Bushmen
The indigenous people of Southern Africa, whose territory spans most areas of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola, are variously referred to as Bushmen, San, Sho, Barwa, Kung, or Khwe...
artists between 10000 and 2000 years ago are found in cultural sites in Zimbabwe and these demonstrate a high degree of skill in drawing. Many depict recognisable animal figures and use shading and colour to enhance the visual impact. The archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
of Zimbabwe includes numerous pottery finds, which assist in the reconstruction of linguistic and cultural groupings within what is here termed Shona
Shona people
Shona is the name collectively given to two groups of people in the east and southwest of Zimbabwe, north eastern Botswana and southern Mozambique.-Shona Regional Classification:...
. The pottery indicates that the people of the Late Iron Age were settled agriculturists and they have been categorised as forming groups such as the Harare culture and the Leopard’s Kopje culture: the latter established in 980 AD in a site called K2. This group moved to Mapungubwe
Mapungubwe
After Mapungubwe's fall, it was forgotten until 1932. On New Year's Eve 1932, E. S. J. van Graan, a local farmer and prospector, and his son, a former student of the University of Pretoria, discovered the wealth of artifacts on top of the hill. They reported the find to Professor Leo...
, where they used stone walls to separate the ruling class from the rest of the population. This settlement was abandoned in the thirteenth century at around the time that a now much better-known site was developed by others who lived on the Zimbabwean plateau. This was Great Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe is a ruined city that was once the capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe, which existed from 1100 to 1450 C.E. during the country’s Late Iron Age. The monument, which first began to be constructed in the 11th century and which continued to be built until the 14th century, spanned an...
, which dates from about 1250–1500 AD. It is a stone-walled town (Zimbabwe means "royal residence") and shows evidence in its archaeology of skilled stone working: the walls were made of a local granite and no mortar was used in their construction. When excavated, six soapstone birds
Zimbabwe Bird
The stone-carved Zimbabwe Bird is a national emblem of Zimbabwe, appearing on the national flags and coats of arms of both Zimbabwe and Rhodesia, as well as on banknotes and coins...
and a soapstone
Soapstone
Soapstone is a metamorphic rock, a talc-schist. It is largely composed of the mineral talc and is thus rich in magnesium. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occurs in the areas where tectonic plates are subducted, changing rocks by heat and pressure, with influx...
bowl were found in the eastern enclosure of the monument, so these Shona-speaking
Shona language
Shona is a Bantu language, native to the Shona people of Zimbabwe and southern Zambia; the term is also used to identify peoples who speak one of the Shona language dialects: Zezuru, Karanga, Manyika, Ndau and Korekore...
Gumanye people certainly produced sculpture. Each object was carved from a single piece of stone and the birds have an aesthetic quality that places them as genuine "art". In comparing them to other better-known African stone sculpture, for example from the Yoruba culture
Yoruba people
The Yoruba people are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. The majority of the Yoruba speak the Yoruba language...
, Philip Allison, writing in 1968, stated "The stone sculptures of Rhodesia are few in number and of no great aesthetic distinction, but Zimbabwe itself has a place of peculiar importance in the study of African cultures".
Visual Art in the Victorian period
During the Victorian period, travellers to what is now ZimbabweZimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
used art, especially painting, to depict some of what they saw there. This art of the colonial period
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
took landscape as its main theme and many of the European artists were present as part of expeditions that aimed to inform the public in Europe about life in Africa. For example, Thomas Baines
Thomas Baines
Thomas Baines was an English artist and explorer of British colonial southern Africa and Australia. Born in King's Lynn, Norfolk, Baines was apprenticed to a coach painter at an early age...
joined the Zambezi
Zambezi
The Zambezi is the fourth-longest river in Africa, and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. The area of its basin is , slightly less than half that of the Nile...
expedition led by David Livingstone
David Livingstone
David Livingstone was a Scottish Congregationalist pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and an explorer in Africa. His meeting with H. M. Stanley gave rise to the popular quotation, "Dr...
in 1858 and in 1861 he was one of the first to make oil paintings of Victoria Falls
Victoria Falls
The Victoria Falls or Mosi-oa-Tunya is a waterfall located in southern Africa on the Zambezi River between the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe.-Introduction:...
. John Guille Millais
John Guille Millais
John Guille Millais , known as "Johnny" Millais, was an English artist, naturalist, gardener and travel writer who specialised in wildlife and flower portraiture. He travelled extensively around the world in the late Victorian period detailing wildlife often for the first time...
spent six months of 1893 sketching and hunting in Zimbabwe.
From 1900 to Independence in 1980
While there were many well-known white artists in Rhodesia prior to independence in 1980, there were relatively few black artists of note. One of these was Kingsley SamboKingsley Sambo
Kingsley Sambo was a Zimbabwean painter and cartoonist.Sambo received training in the Bulawayo area before joining Frank McEwen's Workshop School in 1957; there he remained until 1973. A pioneer of easel painting in Zimbabwe, he served as a cartoonist for several African newspapers, and was also...
(1932–1977), who started to paint at the Cyrene Mission where Canon Edward Paterson taught art. Two of Sambo’s paintings are in the MoMA. Others were Thomas Mukarobgwa
Thomas Mukarobgwa
Thomas Mukarobgwa was a Zimbabwean painter and sculptor who worked as a gallery attendant for much of his career.Mukarobgwa was born in Nyanga, in the countryside of what was then Rhodesia, and had limited education. His first contact with art came in 1956 when he met Frank McEwen, the newly...
(also a leading sculptor) and Joseph Ndandarika
Joseph Ndandarika
Joseph Ndandarika was a Zimbabwean sculptor known for his figurative works.A member of the Shona tribe, Ndandarika was the grandson of a highly respected n'anga, and spent some time as his apprentice before becoming a sculptor. He joined Frank McEwen's Workshop School in Harare in 1962, beginning...
Although the Workshop School of the National Gallery supported and encouraged painters from 1957, Rhodesia had no Colleges for Fine Arts and it was not until 1963 that Alex Lambert set up the Mzilikazi Art School in Bulawayo
Bulawayo
Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital Harare, with an estimated population in 2010 of 2,000,000. It is located in Matabeleland, 439 km southwest of Harare, and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland...
specifically to encourage local people to take up art.
Post-Independence
The National GalleryNational Gallery of Zimbabwe
The National Gallery of Zimbabwe is a gallery in Harare, Zimbabwe, dedicated to the presentation and conservation of Zimbabwe’s contemporary art and visual heritage...
has, since 1986, promoted local artists by hosting an annual exhibition of contemporary visual arts called "Zimbabwe Heritage". Patronage from Zimbabwean companies – the Baringa Corporation (for paintings, graphics, textiles, ceramics and photograph) and the Nedlaw Investment and Trust Corporation (for sculpture) – initially supported the expense of having an international panel of judges come to Zimbabwe to assess the works and make Awards. Later, the sponsorship of the event grew to include international companies such as Mobil
Mobil
Mobil, previously known as the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, was a major American oil company which merged with Exxon in 1999 to form ExxonMobil. Today Mobil continues as a major brand name within the combined company, as well as still being a gas station sometimes paired with their own store or On...
, Lever Brothers
Lever Brothers
Lever Brothers was a British manufacturer founded in 1885 by William Hesketh Lever and his brother, James Darcy Lever . The brothers had invested in and promoted a new soap making process invented by chemist William Hough Watson, it was a huge success...
, The BOC Group
The BOC Group
The BOC Group plc was the official name of the multinational industrial gas and British based company more commonly known as BOC, and now a part of The Linde Group. In September 2004, BOC had over 30,000 employees on six continents, with sales of over £4.6 billion. BOC was a constituent of the...
and Longman
Longman
Longman was a publishing company founded in London, England in 1724. It is now an imprint of Pearson Education.-Beginnings:The Longman company was founded by Thomas Longman , the son of Ezekiel Longman , a gentleman of Bristol. Thomas was apprenticed in 1716 to John Osborn, a London bookseller, and...
. Early winners of Awards of Distinction in the painters and graphics category included Berry Bickle (1987), Bert Hemsteede (1988), Rashid Jogee (1992) and Tichaona Madzamba (1992).
Painters who have established reputations in post-independence Zimbabwe include Dumisani Ngwenya
Dumisani Ngwenya
Dumisani Ngwenya is a South African footballer for Dynamos Polokwane.-Career:The striker played in his native professional for Maritzburg City F.C. and AmaZulu.-International career:...
, Taylor Nkomo and Richard Jack
Richard Jack
Richard Jack was a painter of portraits, figure subjects, interiors and landscapes, and prominent war artist for Canada.-Biography:...
.
From 1900 to Independence in 1980
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 GalleryNational Gallery of Zimbabwe
The National Gallery of Zimbabwe is a gallery in Harare, Zimbabwe, dedicated to the presentation and conservation of Zimbabwe’s contemporary art and visual heritage...
in Salisbury, its first Director, Frank McEwen
Frank McEwen
Francis Jack "Frank" McEwen, OBE was an English artist, teacher, and museum administrator. He is best remembered today for his efforts to bring attention to the work of Shona artists in Rhodesia, and for helping to found the National Gallery of Zimbabwe...
, encouraged local artists to explore that medium. Within a few years, a group of local artists including Thomas Mukarobgwa
Thomas Mukarobgwa
Thomas Mukarobgwa was a Zimbabwean painter and sculptor who worked as a gallery attendant for much of his career.Mukarobgwa was born in Nyanga, in the countryside of what was then Rhodesia, and had limited education. His first contact with art came in 1956 when he met Frank McEwen, the newly...
, Joram Mariga
Joram Mariga
Joram Mariga has been called the “Father of Zimbabwean Sculpture” because of his influence on the local artistic community starting in the 1950s and continuing until his death in 2000...
and his nephew John Takawira
John Takawira
John Takawira was a Zimbabwean sculptor. The background to the sculptural movement of which he was a leading member is given in the article on Shona art.-Early life and education:...
were learning the necessary skills, mainly carving in soapstone
Soapstone
Soapstone is a metamorphic rock, a talc-schist. It is largely composed of the mineral talc and is thus rich in magnesium. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occurs in the areas where tectonic plates are subducted, changing rocks by heat and pressure, with influx...
. 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
Guruve
-Districts and areas:*Roundhouse*Delaware Mine*Natasha Valley...
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
Bernard Matemera
Bernard Matemera was a Zimbabwean sculptor. The sculptural movement of which he was part is usually referred to as "Shona sculpture" , although some of its recognised members are not ethnically Shona...
, Sylvester Mubayi
Sylvester Mubayi
Sylvester Mubayi is a Zimbabwean sculptor.A native of the Chiota Reserve near Marondera, Mubayi worked as a tobacco grader after leaving school; in 1966 he moved to Harare to look for work at the Chibuku Breweries. He joined the Tengenenge Sculpture Community in 1967 as one of its first members,...
, Henry Mukarobgwa, Thomas Mukarobgwa
Thomas Mukarobgwa
Thomas Mukarobgwa was a Zimbabwean painter and sculptor who worked as a gallery attendant for much of his career.Mukarobgwa was born in Nyanga, in the countryside of what was then Rhodesia, and had limited education. His first contact with art came in 1956 when he met Frank McEwen, the newly...
, Henry Munyaradzi
Henry Munyaradzi
Henry Munyaradzi was a Zimbabwean sculptor. The sculptural movement of which he was part is usually referred to as "Shona sculpture" , although some of its recognised members are not ethnically Shona. He worked initially at the Tengenenge Sculpture Community, 150 km north of Harare near...
, Joram Mariga
Joram Mariga
Joram Mariga has been called the “Father of Zimbabwean Sculpture” because of his influence on the local artistic community starting in the 1950s and continuing until his death in 2000...
, Joseph Ndandarika
Joseph Ndandarika
Joseph Ndandarika was a Zimbabwean sculptor known for his figurative works.A member of the Shona tribe, Ndandarika was the grandson of a highly respected n'anga, and spent some time as his apprentice before becoming a sculptor. He joined Frank McEwen's Workshop School in Harare in 1962, beginning...
, Bernard Takawira
Bernard Takawira
Bernard Takawira was a Zimbabwean sculptor, the younger brother of John Takawira.Takawira was born in the mountainous Nyanga district, third of six children. Their father was often absent for work, and their mother, Mai, assumed a dominant role...
and his brother John
John Takawira
John Takawira was a Zimbabwean sculptor. The background to the sculptural movement of which he was a leading member is given in the article on Shona art.-Early life and education:...
. This also includes work by the famed Mukomberanwa
Mukomberanwa
Mukomberanwa is the family name of a group of Zimbabwean sculptors. It may refer to:*Nicholas Mukomberanwa, one of the first generation of Zimbabwean sculptorsHis children:*Anderson Mukomberanwa*Lawrence Mukomberanwa*Taguma Mukomberanwa...
family (Nicholas Mukomberanwa
Nicholas Mukomberanwa
Nicholas Mukomberanwa was a Zimbabwean sculptor. He was among the most famous products of the Workshop School.-Life:Mukomberanwa was born in the Buhera District and spent his childhood in a rural environment. He was interested in art from an early age, being introduced to the craft of woodcarving...
and his protegeesAnderson Mukomberanwa
Anderson Mukomberanwa
Anderson Mukomberanwa was a Zimbabwean artist known primarily for his stone sculpture. The son of Nicholas Mukomberanwa, he was the brother of sculptors Taguma, Lawrence, Ennica, and Netsai Mukomberanwa, and the cousin of Nesbert Mukomberanwa....
, Lawrence Mukomberanwa
Lawrence Mukomberanwa
Lawrence Mukomberanwa is a Zimbabwean sculptor.The son of Nicholas Mukomberanwa, Lawrence worked with his father while training to be a commercial pilot. He worked in the field for some years before turning to sculpture full-time...
, Taguma Mukomberanwa
Taguma Mukomberanwa
Taguma Mukomberanwa is a Zimbabwean sculptor. The son of Nicholas Mukomberanwa, he is the brother of sculptors Anderson, Lawrence, Ennica, and Netsai Mukomberanwa, and the cousin of Nesbert Mukomberanwa.-References:*...
, Netsai Mukomberanwa
Netsai Mukomberanwa
Netsai Mukomberanwa is a Zimbabwean sculptor. The daughter of Nicholas Mukomberanwa, she is the sister of sculptors Anderson, Ennica, Taguma, and Lawrence Mukomberanwa, and the cousin of Nesbert Mukomberanwa. She spends afternoons producing her work at the family farm in Ruwa; her primary job is...
, Ennica Mukomberanwa
Ennica Mukomberanwa
Ennica Mukomberanwa is a Zimbabwean sculptor. The daughter of Nicholas Mukomberanwa, she is the sister of sculptors Anderson, Netsai, Taguma, and Lawrence Mukomberanwa, and the cousin of Nesbert Mukomberanwa...
, and Nebert Mukomberanwa) whose works have been featured worldwide.
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.
Fifteen years of sanctions against Rhodesia limited the international exposure of the sculpture. Nevertheless, owing mainly to the efforts of Frank McEwen
Frank McEwen
Francis Jack "Frank" McEwen, OBE was an English artist, teacher, and museum administrator. He is best remembered today for his efforts to bring attention to the work of Shona artists in Rhodesia, and for helping to found the National Gallery of Zimbabwe...
, 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 HallRoyal Festival HallThe Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
, London - 1968-9 New African Art: The Central African Workshop School, MOMA, New York (Toured in USA)
- 1969 Contemporary African Arts, Camden Arts CentreCamden Arts CentreCamden Arts Centre is a contemporary visual art gallery, dedicated to engaging living artists from across the world. Positioning the artist at the centre of the programme, Camden Arts Centre strives to involve the public in the ideas and work of today's artists.The exhibition and education...
, London. - 1970 Sculptures Contemporaine de Vukutu, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
- 1971 Sculpture Contemporaine des Shonas d’Afrique, Musée RodinMusée RodinThe Musée Rodin in Paris, France, is a museum that was opened in 1919 in the Hôtel Biron and surrounding grounds. It displays works by the French sculptor Auguste Rodin....
, Paris - 1971 Gallery 101, JohannesburgJohannesburgJohannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
- 1971 Artists Gallery, Cape TownCape TownCape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
- 1972 Shona sculptures of Rhodesia, ICA GalleryInstitute of Contemporary ArtsThe Institute of Contemporary Arts is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. It is located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch...
, London - 1972 Galerie Helliggyst, CopenhagenCopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
- 1972 MOMA, New York
- 1979 Kunst Aus Africa, BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. Staatlichen Kunstalle went to BremenBremenThe City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
and StockholmStockholmStockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area... - 1979 Feingarten Gallery, Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
Post-Independence
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 BenhuraDominic Benhura
Dominic Benhura is a Zimbabwean sculptor.Benhura was born in Murewa, to the northeast of Harare. His father died before his birth, and he was raised by his mother. As he was an excellent student, it was suggested that he be sent to Harare for further studies...
and Tapfuma Gutsa
Tapfuma Gutsa
Tapfuma Gutsa is a Zimbabwean sculptor.A native of Harare, Gutsa was studied sculpture with Cornelius Manguma at the Driefontein Mission School, later becoming the first Zimbabwean recipient of a British Council award...
and the art form itself.
Support and encouragement has come from many sources.
- Sponsors of a variety of Sculpture communities, of which those at Tengenenge and Chapungu 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.
- Commercial sponsors in Zimbabwe, including the Baringa Corporation, the Nedlaw Investment and Trust Corporation, Zimre Holdings Limited, BATBritish American TobaccoBritish American Tobacco p.l.c. is a global tobacco company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s second largest quoted tobacco company by global market share , with a leading position in more than 50 countries and a presence in more than 180 countries...
(who part-fund the Workshop School of the National Gallery) and MobilMobilMobil, previously known as the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, was a major American oil company which merged with Exxon in 1999 to form ExxonMobil. Today Mobil continues as a major brand name within the combined company, as well as still being a gas station sometimes paired with their own store or On...
(who support the "Zimbabwe Heritage" annual exhibition at the Gallery). - The Zimbabwean Government, especially through its support for the National Gallery, which now has regional centres in Bulawayo and Mutare.
- Patrons who buy works or write forewords to catalogues for international exhibitions. Examples of well-known individuals include Richard AttenboroughRichard AttenboroughRichard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough , CBE is a British actor, director, producer and entrepreneur. As director and producer he won two Academy Awards for the 1982 film Gandhi...
, Richard E. GrantRichard E. GrantRichard E. Grant is a Swaziland-born British actor, screenwriter and director. His most notable role came in the film Withnail and I. He holds dual British and Swazi citizenship.-Early life:...
and Joshua NkomoJoshua NkomoJoshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo was the leader and founder of the Zimbabwe African People's Union and a member of the Kalanga tribe...
. - 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 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 soapstone
Soapstone
Soapstone is a metamorphic rock, a talc-schist. It is largely composed of the mineral talc and is thus rich in magnesium. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occurs in the areas where tectonic plates are subducted, changing rocks by heat and pressure, with influx...
s, firm grey limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
and semi-precious Verdite and Lepidolite
Lepidolite
Lepidolite Lepidolite Lepidolite (KLi2Al(Al,Si)3O10(F,OH)2 is a lilac-gray or rose-colored phyllosilicate mineral of the mica group that is a secondary source of lithium. It is associated with other lithium-bearing minerals like spodumene in pegmatite bodies. It is one of the major sources of the...
.
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.
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. Wood carving has a long history in Zimbabwe and some of its leading exponents are Zephania Tshuma and Morris Tendai.
International Exhibitions
- 1982 Janet Fleischer Gallery, Philadelphia, USA
- 1984 Henry of Tengenenge, Commonwealth InstituteCommonwealth InstituteThe Commonwealth Institute was an educational charity connected with the Commonwealth of Nations, and the name of a building in West London formerly owned by the Institute...
, London - 1985 Kustchatze aus Africa, FrankfurtFrankfurtFrankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, Germany - 1985 Henry of Tengenenge, Feingarten Gallery, Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, USA - 1989 Zimbabwe op de Berg, Foundation Beelden op de Berg, WageningenWageningen' is a municipality and a historical town in the central Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland. It is famous for Wageningen University, which specializes in life sciences. The city has 37,414 inhabitants , of which many thousands are students...
, The Netherlands - 1990 Contemporary Stone Carving from Zimbabwe, Yorkshire Sculpture ParkYorkshire Sculpture ParkThe Yorkshire Sculpture Park in West Bretton, Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England is an open-air gallery showing work by UK and international artists, including Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth...
, UK - 1990 Zimbabwe Heritage (National Gallery of Zimbabwe), AucklandAucklandThe Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand - 1994 The Magic of Henry, Contemporary Fine Art Gallery Eton, BerkshireEton, BerkshireEton is a town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, lying on the opposite bank of the River Thames to Windsor and connected to it by Windsor Bridge. The parish also includes the large village of Eton Wick, 2 miles west of the town, and has a population of 4,980. Eton was in Buckinghamshire until...
, UK - 2000 Chapungu: Custom and Legend – A Culture in Stone, Kew Gardens, UK
- 2001 Tengenenge Art, Celia Winter-IrvingCelia Winter-IrvingCelia Winter-Irving , was an Australian artist and art critic who wrote extensively about the Art of Zimbabwe, especially Shona sculpture, when she lived in Harare from 1987-2008 .-Early life:...
, World Art Foundation, The Netherlands
See also
Art of ZimbabweArt of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean art includes decorative esthetics applied to many aspects of life, including art objects as such, utilitarian objects, objects used in religion, warfare, in propaganda, and in many other spheres. Within this broad arena, Zimbabwe has several identifiable categories of art...
, covering fine arts produced in Zimbabwe. The Discussion page suggests that these two articles could be merged.
- :Category:Zimbabwean sculptors