By Nelson Banya Harare — When Dominic Benhura started creating traditional Zimbabwean stone sculptures as a teenager four decades ago, he never imagined that art would bring him fame or fortune. Born to a poor family in Murewa, 90km northeast of Harare, Benhura is now a globally acclaimed artist and a leading proponent of the…
Zimbabwe sculpture artist bullish on growth of Chinese market
by Gretinah Machingura, Zhang Yuliang HARARE, — Despite obtaining a motor mechanics diploma at a private college in Harare, Tendekai Tigere Tandi finds himself surviving on stone sculpting, something that he started as a hobby while in his pre-school age. Tandi is one of Zimbabwe’s self-taught, third-generation stone sculptors at Chitungwiza Arts Center, and he…
Wellington Chingondi – Insights on Zimbabwe visual art scene
Born in Mhondoro in 1977, Wellington Chingondi started sculpting in 1996 at the famous Tengenenge arts community founded by Tom Blomefield in Guruve. Inspired by the master sculptor Bernard Matemera whom he has very fond memories of,Wellington was taught sculpting by his brother in law Takawira Chikwanyanga Wellington believes sculpting is about subtraction because you…
Art has potential to raise foreign currency for Zimbabwe: Victor Mutongwizo
We went out to the Canon Paterson Crafts Centre in Mbare and caught up with Victor Mutongwizo a Shona Sculptor who has been working there since 1977. The seasoned artist is a founding member and former chairperson of the centre. Mike Tyson, Miles Davies and Danny Glover own pieces by Victor Mutongwizo Victor…
Zimbabwe’s ‘Mother and Child’ sculptor (Dominic Benhure)
Dominic Benhura is an internationally acclaimed Zimbabwean artist who has made a name for himself with his unique mother and child stone sculptures. His works have been exhibited at galleries across the world and have sold at auction for tens of thousands of dollars. He talked to the BBC at his studio in Harare and…