Shona Sculpture
In Zimbabwe, the Shona people were traditionally known as “the People of the Mist”, since they inhabited the mistshrouded Inyanga Mountains, from whose stone their descendants have been creating extraordinary sculpture over the past 55 years or so.
The Shona are the oldest and also the largest ethnic group in the country, and the legendary guardians of King Solomon’s mines. Despite the fact that many of them are now urbanised, the essence of their misty land and its spiritual world is deep within their psyche and still relevant.
In fact, the belief is that each rock on the Inyanga slopes, wonderfully varied in colour, contains a spirit unique to that stone. As an exhibition review in a London newspaper put it recently: “Shona sculpture is an art movement which emerged in Zimbabwe in the 1960s and has now been hailed on the international art scene. It is sculpture of world quality, extracting the individual spirit of the stone.”
Potent traditions of spiritual connection and myth may well link contemporary Zimbabwean sculpture to steatite carvings, particularly of birds, created at Great Zimbabwe, the imposing city structure built of stone circa 1500 AD, and surrounded by massive walls. From long past, the Shona have been a gentle, deeply reflective people, mystically inclined and armed with enduring patience and resourcefulness. Even in warfare, they relied on traditional religious systems for power, defeating Portuguese invaders in 1600.
The key to Shona life is the family – women, men and their children, as well as their ancestors. In the past a member of the family was a muvesi or carver, empowered by a Mudzimu, a special ancestral spirit who manifested in dreams.
The muvesi created household items with great artistry in wood and clay, though not usually stone, as a way of recounting what he had seen in a dream. This heritage is embedded in the work of modern Shona sculptors, though theirs is clearly not for functional purposes.
The present art movement surged into public consciousness in the early 1960s with the encouragement of Frank McEwen, the first director of the National Gallery in Harare. He quickly realised the inherent sculptural brilliance of the Shona, enabling sculptors to form a workshop at the gallery, helping to sell their work there, and fairly soon to exhibit it abroad. Many exhibitions at global venues have followed, as far afield as Japan.
In 1966, a second European, Tom Blomefield, made available land on which he had been farming, which had a vast deposit of serpentine stone. This enabled a group of sculptural stars to shine. Initially, Blomefield encouraged them by supplying them with tools, shelter and food. All the sculpture produced was transported 100 miles to Harare where it was successfully sold, enabling the artists to become independent. Now, a second generation of urban artists has gained recognition, based in Harare or establishing themselves in Europe.
Most Shona artists have no formal art training, but were taught by relatives or a master sculptor. Brothers Gedion and Collen were instructed by their father, Claud Nyanhongo. Gedion says: “I started making sculptures before I knew my name.” He has now achieved international success, with studios in Zimbabwe and the USA. His work explores social issues such as unemployment, as well as human love and the spiritual power it can provide. “I want to make people happy and to promote peace,” he adds.
Juliet Highet, New African