The Shona and their Sculpture
The Shona and their ancestors have lived and died for more than 1000 years on the land of Southeastern Africa. Hailing mainly from Zimbabwe, which means "house of stone," the Shona have expressed themselves through their unique sculpture since 1200 AD. While rooted in ancient tradition, contemporary Shona sculpture of Zimbabwe is as relevant today as more modern forms of art.

Shona Art and the Great Spirits
Sculpting with simple tools, often cleverly fashioned out of found parts, the self-taught Shona sculptors carve the unique stone of their native land. They do not plan or pre-draw their sculptures; instead, the sculpture is inspired by the stone itself. Much like many Native Americans who believe in Animism, the Shona believe that everything has a spirit, including plants, animals and rocks. Sculptors often say that the spirits come to them in their dreams and reveal the spirit that dwells in the rock; the art that results often emotes strong feeling in its viewers despite their cultural origins because it originates from our collective unconscious.


Materials for Carving
The most often-used stone for sculpting is serpentine, although some sculptors prefer verdite, springstone, or various other rocks. Much of the stone comes from the Great Dyke, a 300+ mile volcanic ridge of 2.5 billion year old hills that forms the backbone of Zimbabwe. Originally, artists polished the stone using plant oils; later techniques have included applying layers of hot wax, such as beeswax. The surface is then sanded by hand with sandpaper, or, in earlier days, river sand on a wet rag.

Shona Sculpture in the News

Shona sculpture is perhaps the most important new art form to emerge from Africa in this century. --Newsweek

...unlike art found in much of the rest of Africa, Shona sculpture...has become a wholly indigenous modern art form created exclusively as a form of artistic expression. --New York Times

Picasso was an admirer of early Shona sculpture; now evidence is surfacing that he was influenced by it, too. --Town & Country Magazine

The world's best unrecognized sculptors. --The Economist

During the past decade, Zimbabwe Shona Sculpture has become the most collected form of African art.It has found its way into important repositories such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Rodin Museum, and into the homes of the Rockefellers and the Prince of Wales. --The Oregonian

If the perfection of art is measured purely by emotional expressive power, then this art is beyond perfection. -- West Indian World

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Photographs graciously provided by:

Utonga Gallery www.utonga.com

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