The fate of Zimbabwe’s stone sculpture in many ways resembles the fortunes of the country itself. The first generation of sculptors, which included Nicholas Mukomberanwa, Henry Munyaradzi and Joram Mariga, were accomplished artists and so was the generation that came after them (Tapfuma Gutsa and Dominic Benhura). They are routinely referred to as masters and rightfully so. But as the third generation of artists emerged, artistic integrity and craftsmanship was eroded and in its place rampant commercialism held sway.
In the early Nineties when the Soviet-style command economy of the 1980s gave way to World Bank-sponsored economic liberalisation programmes, hordes of untrained people, most of them unemployed, ventured to nearby mountains to harvest the abundant stone which they fashioned into curio objects.
These were sold on Zimbabwe’s street corners, highways and in neighbouring countries. The traders peddled their wares as genuine Zimbabwean stone art.
This posed problems for those who couldn’t distinguish between genuine Shona art and the curio item. What complicated the issue further was that some curios were hastily produced by some accomplished artists who hired youths to form production lines.
They were given grinders and other tools to mass-produce Shona ‘art”, factory style.
A real environment
When I swung by the Rwavhi Art Gallery in Greenside recently, this history formed the backdrop to my visit. I was mentally prepared to encounter whatever curios I imagined to be there, but I was genuinely surprised, thrilled even, by what I saw.
The gallery is in fact a home and the art was on display both outside and inside the house, showing the potential owner of the artworks how to situate his or her acquisitions in a real environment.
Rwavhi Gallery (rwavhi is chameleon in Venda and Shona) is run and owned by former BBC journalist Carolyn Dempster.
Dempster says the social and economic crisis has made it difficult for the artists to be both ‘productive” and ‘creative”. That, coupled with ‘the politicisation of access to stone” and the political volatility that scared away art dealers, has had a negative impact on the Zimbabwe stone landscape.
She also decries the rampant commercialism, but is confident about the authenticity of her extensive collection. ‘I defy you to find someone who says this is not art,” she says. In the current exhibition, titled Stone Angels, there’s work by Kudzanai Dambaza, Kudzanai Katerere, Leo Berekayi, Lovemore Bonjisi and about 40 other artists, including Ephraim Chaurika, from the first generation.
Meaning from stone
The work ranges from the purely aesthetic, such as Tarzan Sithole’s Rural Beauties and Walter Mariga’s torsos, to deeply spiritual work, especially by Katerere, who is continuing in the ancient tradition of grinding out meaning from stone.
His spiritual works on show include Swimming with Sharks, Flying Dreams and Loving the Wolf, works that gesture at the interdependence of humanity and nature.
It’s natural that Zimbabwe has produced some of the most exciting sculptors. The name Zimbabwe itself comes from the Shona words dzimba dzamabwe (houses of stone), after the stone structures strewn across southern Zimbabwe.
The work on show was carved from a variety of stone from the hardened lepidolite (so hard sculptors use diamond-tipped tools) to the softer serpentine varieties.
Walter Mariga is the son and perhaps heir to Joram Mariga, widely regarded as the father of the stone sculpture movement.
The story goes that the elder Mariga, already an accomplished wood carver, saw workers constructing a road that passed near his village. The work involved breaking up and fashioning stubborn stone outcrops and Mariga realised that even stone could be carved.
His sons have taken up the family tradition and Mariga, who has moved away from the usual themes, is especially adept at carving the torsos of women in startling, suggestive poses.
As we stood admiring the show, the gathering clouds suddenly gave in to a furious downpour, drenching and weathering the stoneworks.
Accumulated knowledge
In many ways it reminds one of the erosion the stone sculpting tradition has undergone over the years. But some of the work on show seems durable enough to withstand the elements.
It suggests that perhaps the third generation of artists will be able to pass on its accumulated knowledge to the fourth to continue the tradition.
Stone Angels shows at the Rwavhi Gallery, 44 Mowbray Road, Greenside until April 10