Government is reportedly planning to transform Tengenenge Arts Gallery in Guruve into a tourist resort because of its historical significance and the pivotal role it has played in promoting the development of the arts sector. This was revealed by National Arts Gallery of Zimbabwe director Raphael Chikukwa during a stakeholder consultative meeting in Harare on…
ONCE upon a time, there was the usual prelude used by folk storytellers to gain maximum attention from their audience, mainly children. For Shona-speaking storytellers they would expect the attentive audience to immediately respond by saying: “Dzepfunde (we are listening)”, which would encourage the storyteller to proceed. Among the many old Shona tales that children…
Tom Blomefield (95) one of the initiators and pioneering promoters of contemporary Zimbabwe Shona sculpture has died in Holland. Blomefield who founded Tengenenge Art Community at his farm in Guruve in 1966 died on Wednesday morning. In a statement on facebook, his son Stephen Blomefield said his father will be sorely missed by tens of…
The U.S. Embassy Harare ambassador, Brian A. Nichols heaped praises on contemporary sculptor Gideon Gomo calling him the most important sculptor in Zimbabwe. Speaking at the official opening of Nhungo, Gomo’s solo exhibition at Village Unhu on Thursday, Ambassador Nichols said Gomo is creating art that is really speaking to the moment in Zimbabwe and he is…
Born as the 7th child in a family of 8, Issac Takavada was to be taught sculptor by his brother Percy Mukeda. Isaac once had a stint with the famous Chapungu Gallery but he is now based at the Canon Patterson Çrafts Center, Mbare, Harare. According to him the sculptors at the cooperative make a…
We managed to get the behind the scenes processes related to making Shona Sculpture from Felix Mlungisi a contemporary scupltor based at Chitungwiza Arts Centre. Check out the video to get the backstage story of the beautiful sculptures you love.
Working from his base at Chitungwiza Arts Centre, Isaac Choloka is a towering figure just like the massive sculptures he loves to carve. Choloka started off as a cartoonist. One of his big sculptures had been selected to be put up at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa but in an unfortunate twist of events the…
Simon Samhere is your typical Shona Sculpture who is true to the culture. He believes it’s his duty to remind Zimbabweans of their culture and traditions as most people have lost respect for their culture and have been swallowed up by Western culture. Simon was initiated into sculpture by his brother Caleb Samhere and the…
Martin Matimura is a bundle of energy and full of confidence. His story, a true from rags to riches type of tale. Martin chronicles how he started of as a gardner for Lameck Bonjisi, becoming his assistant and finally his manager and confidant. With the death of Lameck Bonjisi, Martin decided to become his own man…
The Canon Paterson Craft Center in Mbare is an artists cooperative established in 1973. Currently, it has a membership of fifty artists who work from there. According to sculptor Chamunorwa Manyore who is also the secretary for the center, the major problem facing the art collective is marketing. Manyore bemoans the dwindling number of tourists coming into…
