Shona sculpture is famous for its expressive and intricate stone carvings, which have deep cultural and spiritual significance for the Shona people of Zimbabwe. This art movement can be traced back to the 1950s.
The history of Shona sculpture is a story of cultural heritage and artistic creativity. Reflecting the rich cultural heritage of Zimbabwe, Shona sculpture stands as one of Africa’s most powerful and respected art forms. Emerging from the ancient stone traditions of Zimbabwe, it continues to evolve, blending modern artistry with centuries of symbolism and craftsmanship.
Origins of the Shona People
The Shona people are one of Zimbabwe’s largest ethnic groups, with a history that stretches back over a thousand years. Central to the rise of powerful kingdoms like Great Zimbabwe, Mutapa, and the Rozvi Empire, the Shona were key players in trade, especially in gold and copper. They practiced subsistence farming, growing crops like sorghum and maize, and raised livestock.
Ancient Roots in Great Zimbabwe
The roots of Zimbabwe’s stone carving tradition go back to the Great Zimbabwe civilization, which thrived between the 11th and 15th centuries. In 1250, artisans began constructing stone structures at Great Zimbabwe, including royal enclosures and a conical tower. Known for its impressive stone walls and structures, Great Zimbabwe stands as a testament to the Shona people’s early skill in stoneworking. 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 art forms in soapstone were part of that early culture.
These carvings became national symbols. Today, the Zimbabwe Bird appears on the national flag and previously featured on currency. Although ancient Zimbabwe sculpture faded after the fall of the Monomutapa Kingdom, the spirit of stone carving returned in the 1950s.
Read also: History of the Shona People
The Modern Renaissance
The modern movement of Shona sculpture began in the 1950s and 1960s, during the colonial era in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). This was when Frank McEwen became advisor to the new Rhodes National Gallery to be built in Harare and from 1955 to 1973 was its founding director (it opened in 1957). A major turning point was the work of Frank McEwen, a British-born curator who, in the 1950s, established the National Gallery Workshop.
In 1957, Frank McEwen was appointed as the first curator of the new National Gallery in Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe). McEwen was impressed with the talent of some of the artists he met in Zimbabwe, and he encouraged them to paint and later to sculpt. Because of his contacts in the international art world, he was able to give the movement that later became known as ‘Shona sculpture’ (after Zimbabwe’s most numerous tribe) its first international exposure.
It was an introduction to local artist Joram Mariga and his early soft stone carvings that prompted McEwen to encourage early soapstone carvers to create works that reflected their culture. The Workshop School established by the gallery soon attracted more artists, many of whom had already been exposed to some form of art training from early mission schools and were established art practitioners. These included Joseph Ndandarika, John Takawira and Kingsley Sambo. McEwen encouraged the artists to look inward, to find their so-called ‘tribal subconsciousness’ and express it through their art.
The 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, Blomefield 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, then led by Ian Smith, who had declared Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965, and tobacco was no longer able to generate sufficient income.
Key Figures in the Shona Sculpture Movement
- Bernard Matemera
- Sylvester Mubayi
- Henry Mukarobgwa
- Thomas Mukarobgwa
- Henry Munyaradzi
- Joram Mariga
- Joseph Ndandarika
- Bernard Takawira
- John Takawira
- Nicholas Mukomberanwa and his family (Anderson, Lawrence, Taguma, Netsai, Ennica, and Nesbert Mukomberanwa)
During its early years of growth, the nascent "Shona sculpture movement" was described as an art renaissance, an art phenomenon and a miracle. 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.
Read also: Famous Kenyan Musicians
Themes and Materials
Shona sculpture is deeply connected to the land and the spirit world, with many pieces depicting human figures, animals, and abstract forms. Stylized human figures, often with large heads and serene expressions, emphasize the Shona belief that humans are conduits to the spiritual realm. Animals and symbols like fish and birds carry deep meanings, such as fertility and spiritual connection.
Artists select stones for their texture, color, and how they respond to carving, with popular choices including soapstone, serpentine, and springstone. Central Zimbabwe contains the "Great Dyke" - a source of serpentine rocks of many types including a hard variety locally called springstone. Serpentine stone is found in Zimbabwe in a wide range of colours, from black and green to yellows, orange, grey, red, and even purple. The stones exhibit unique patterns that formed in the rock millions of years ago.
Common Themes in Shona Sculpture
- The spirits
- Family
- Mother and child
- Nature and animals
- Abstracted forms
International Recognition
By the 1980s, Shona sculpture had gained international acclaim, with artists like Henry Munyaradzi, Dominic Benhura, and Sylvester Mubayi exhibiting their works in prestigious museums like the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Rodin Museum in Paris. In spite of increasing worldwide demand for the sculptures, as yet little of what McEwen feared might just be an "airport art" style of commercialization 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, humor, 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.
Contemporary Shona Sculpture
Today, Shona sculpture is a globally recognized contemporary art form. In 2017 computerised sculpting was introduced by the visual artist Boarding Dzinotizei. His digital Shona sculptures comment on the Zimbabwean society through 3D printing. The message conveyed represents a loss in the significance of totems in Shona culture.
Read also: Shaping Global Music
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 northeast and Mutare in the east. These readily available and inexpensive 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.
Another artist, Bryn Taurai Mteki, created a large sculpture titled “Chippi”, which was unveiled during the sixth All-Africa Games, hosted in Zimbabwe in September 1995. This sculpture also served as the games mascot. It is 2.5 meters high and is now displayed at the National Sports Stadium in Harare alongside the Games' Flame, as a part of the permanent collection.
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 center for metal sculpture, with artists such as David Ndlovu and Adam Madebele.
Shona sculpture speaks a universal language. Support Zimbabwe sculpture by purchasing directly from the artists.
Popular articles:
tags:
