African art - A reading list

The African Workshop School / text by Frank McEwen; photography by Sylvia Beck. [Salisbury: National Gallery of Rhodesia, 1967]. [34]pp. illus. NB1096.6.R5A25 AFA. OCLC 5993013.

This booklet, consisting mainly of photographs, is of interest as an historical document of the Zimbabwe stone sculpture movement. The early photographs of sculptors, who have now aged along with the movement, are shown here at work or at play. They and others are referred to by McEwen, familiarly and cryptically, with single names -- "Fly," "Ask," "Simon" -- we wonder who they really are.

What is also interesting in retrospect is the veil of romanticism that was already being draped over the sculptors -- "mystically inclined and armed with endless patience...with an inherent belief in ancestor worship and the realm of the unseen." The workshop school, ten years up and running by 1967, took pride in being self-supporting from sale of works. Commerce was part and parcel of the movement from the very beginning.

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Arnold, Marion. Zimbabwean stone sculpture. Bulawayo: Louis Bolze, 1986. xxvi, 234pp. illus., map, bibliog. OCLC 18909483.

Arnold's thesis was the first major study of contemporary Zimbabwean stone sculpture. The scope is somewhat broader in that she considers also ancient stone sculpture -- the stone birds and monoliths of Great Zimbabwe. Her focus is on Shona iconography rather than on the art movement as a whole in all its sociological and commercial aspects (as Winter-Irving's 1991 book is). An art historical study, Zimbabwean stone sculpture discusses form and content, including human, animal and supernatural imagery, by looking at the work of a select group of Shona sculptors. The biographies of these twenty-one sculptors are given in an appendix (pp. 183-197). Other stone sculptors, not discussed in the text but who have participated in exhibitions, are listed in a separate appendix.

Although Arnold does not argue any direct connection between the ancient stone sculpture and the modern, she does suggest that Shona carving in wood and molding in clay of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figures provided iconographical base and technical expertise on which the modern sculptors drew -- once the new incentive, an art for art's sake, was introduced.

The original research on which this book is based was the author's master's thesis entitled: Some aspects of iconography in selected Shona sculptures. This reprint of the 1981 edition (Bulawayo: Books of Zimbabwe) incorporates place-name changes and offers a new postscript.

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Coming of age: zeitgenössische Kunst aus Zimbabwe: Chikonzero Chazunguza, Doreen Sibanda, Voti Thebe, Ishmael Wilfred, Craig Wylie und die Bildhauer: Bernard Matemera, Nicholas Mukomberanwa, Joseph Muzondo, John Takawira. Aschaffenburg: Städtische Galerie Jesuitenkirche, 1998. 96pp. illus. (color). (Forum Aschaffenburg, 20). [not available for review]

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Contemporary stone carving from Zimbabwe : [exhibition] Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 22 July-25 November 1990. [Wakefield, England]: Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 1990. 60pp. chiefly illus. (pt. color). qNB1209.Z55C76 1990 AFA. OCLC 23359729.

Yorkshire Sculpture Park was an elegant setting for what was the largest exhibition of Zimbabwe stone sculpture ever assembled. Thirty-six artists were featured, early masters and younger sculptors alike; their works are photographed in situ at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. The catalog text offers three perspectives on the Zimbabwe stone sculpture phenomenon. Frank McEwen, who was present at the creation of this art movement, but has now departed from the scene, shares some personal reflections from his unique vantage point. Art critic Michael Shepherd assesses the work from the opposite pole: an outsider who has never been to Zimbabwe. Thirdly, Joram Mariga, sometimes credited with being the original Zimbabwe stone carver, certainly one of the first, speaks of his own work. Artists' biographies and a glossary of stone of Zimbabwe are included.

Exhibition reviewed by Gemma Nesbitt, "Captivating sculpture," Southern African economist (Harare) 3 (5): 45-46, October-November 1990.

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Cousins, Jane. "The making of Zimbabwean sculpture," Third text; Third World perspectives on contemporary art and culture (London) no. 13: 31-42, winter 1991. illus., notes. NX1.T445 AFA.

The commodification of Zimbawean stone sculpture has been a problem right from the beginning both for its promoters and its detractors. Since Independence it has become a political commodity as well, symbolizing a national cultural identity and promoted as such by the National Gallery of Zimbabwe and others. Yet for most Zimbabweans, "traditional" stone sculpture remains alien, or rather, they remain notably indifferent to it. Its commercial success is international, not local. Cousins explores why this is so and why the handful of artists who are trying to break out of this mold are finding it so hard to do. Among these younger artists pursuing their own intellectual visions are Tapfuma Gutsa and Vote Thebe.

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Kennedy, Jean. "The sculptors of Zimbabwe: artists with an old legacy," pp. 158-168. In: New currents, ancient rivers: contemporary African artists in a generation of change. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992. illus., bibl. refs. (page 192). N7391.65.K46 1992X AFA. OCLC 22389510.

The stone sculpture movement in Zimbabwe has provoked much discussion about authenticity, quality, commercialism, and imitation in art, but after almost four decades it remains a vital and successful movement, like it or not. Kennedy's retelling of the story of Zimbabwe stone sculpture focuses on the formative period, during which the first generation of artists emerged. Many of them are still (or until recently were) active -- Sylvester Mubayi (1942- ), Joseph Ndandorika (1940- ), the late John Takawira (1938-1989), Henry Munyaradzi (1931- ), and Joram Mariga (1927- ).

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Kennedy, Jean. "Sky and land in Zimbabwe," pp. 155-157. In: New currents, ancient rivers: contemporary African artists in a generation of change. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992. illus., bibl. refs. (page 192). N7391.65.K46 1992X AFA. OCLC 22389510.

The genesis of modern art in Zimbabwe was in the Workshop School at the National Gallery, the brain child of Frank McEwen (1907-1994). In the beginning (in the late 1950s) painting and woodcarving were taught, but eventually stone carving predominated, according to the gospel of McEwen. This abortive effort at painting did produce one painter of note -- Thomas Mukarobgwa (1924- ). Though he, too, abandoned painting for stone sculpture, he has, interestingly, been encouraged to return to this medium in the 1990s.

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Kileff, Clive and Maricarol Kileff. Street sellers of Zimbabwe stone sculpture: artists and entrepreneurs. Gweru: Mambo Press, 1996. xii, 68pp. illus. (pt. color), bibliog. (pp. 67-68). HF5459.Z55K55 1996X AFA. OCLC 35948827.

The Zimbabwe stone sculpture movement has always been as much about commerce as about art. From its inception in the late 1950s, the debates have centered on issues of authenticity, fine art versus tourist art, and distinguishing the "real" artists from the imitators and hacks. No one has really focused on the lower end of the high art-low art spectrum -- the street sellers, entrepreneurs who earn a livelihood from making and hawking sculpture. The Kileffs' short study is a refreshing look at the small business end of art production in Zimbabwe. It begins with the premise that this business is perfectly legitimate and worthy. Far from adopting a dismissive stance toward these individuals, the Kileffs admire the artist-entrepreneurs for their industriousness and initiative. The authors side-step the concerns of the art establishment, and squarely investigate what goes on outside the air-conditioned art gallery. From this vantage point it is all about economics and survival strategies in a competitive marketplace. Seven marketing strategies are identified and discussed: solo street walkers, roadside stand, rented overnight stand, collective ownership stand, curio shop, diversified communal venture, and gallery. Consumer behavior is carefully scrutinized by the sellers, and they adapt their selling pitch and negotiating patter accordingly: the soft sell, one upmanship, name your price, privately under-cutting the going prices, the absent sculptor represented by another who cannot adjust prices, and mass bombardment.

The vignettes of life stories of individual artist-entrepreneurs, which the Kileffs have collected, speak to aspirations, acquired skills, and economic realities. Many of the artists are school-leavers seeking to make an honest dollar; several are women; some are family enterprises; a few are venturing as far afield as Cape Town, South Africa, to sell their wares. Although only a tiny fraction of Zimbabwe street sellers will ever make it to the art gallery circuit, most dream of doing so. But in a postmodern world, issues of quality are being swept aside, as elite cultural authority is challenged. Commodification of art is a great leveler. Does it matter who makes art or where art is sold?

Despite a postscript on "A post-modern evaluation of the quality of street sellers' art," this is not a study weighted down with heavily-worded analysis and lots of statistics; it reads almost anecdotely, like an essay that grows out of personal interest rather than academic necessity. Illustrated with photographs of the artist-entrepreneurs.

Reviewed by M. F. C. Bourdillon in Zambezia (Harare) 24 (2): 201-202, 1997.

Reviewed by Murray McCartney in Gallery; the art magazine from Gallery Delta (Harare) no. 10: 22, December 1996. qN1.G168 AFA. OCLC 33161032.

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Kuhn, Joy. Myth and magic: the art of the Shona of Zimbabwe. Cape Town: Don Nelson, 1978. 112pp. illus. (pt. color). NB1096.6.R5K83X AFA. OCLC 5661113.

Joy Kuhn's perspective on Zimbabwe stone sculptors and their mentors, Frank McEwen, Ned Patterson, and Tom Blomefield, is a highly personalized one; her narrative is downright chatty. But beneath all the first-person singular, one can glean some insights into these early pre-independence years of the movement, when Harare was still Salisbury, Zimbabwe was Rhodesia and "terrorists" were abroad in the land. Annoying, however, is the total absence of captions to identify the photographs; no names, no places; no dates; nothing, except a note that most are from the private collection of Tom Blomefield and so, presumably illustrate Tengenenge sculptures.

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Legacies of stone: Zimbabwe past and present. Volume 2 / curated and edited by Geert G. Bourgois, assisted by Els De Palmenaer; foreword by George P. Kahari. Tervuren: Royal Museum for Central Africa, 1997. illus. (pt. color), map, bibliog. (pp. 190-194). N7396.6.R5L44 1997 volume 2 AFA. OCLC 38742939.

A major exhibition on Zimbabwe was held at the Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale in 1997, half of which was devoted to modern art. Volume 2 contains nine essays which cover stone sculpture, mission art, painting, "outsider art," tourist art, and art education. This panoramic view of the contemporary art scene in Zimbabwe is intended not as a "who's who," but as a "what's what." Originally it was planned to include only stone sculpture, but the organizers were persuaded that that would do a disservice to artists of Zimbabwe as well as to visitors to the exhibition. Two essays on the stone sculpture lead off, followed by a "scientific interlude" by geologist Georges Stoops. His analysis of the rocks used by Zimbabwe's stone sculptors shows that the names of stone referred to in the literature do not correspond to reality. The most commonly used stones, chlorite, sericite, serpentinite and steatite, are all relatively soft and easy to carve with simple tools but are sufficiently tough to guarantee firmness. The early mission-based art schools, Cyrene and Serima, provide the substance of an important historical chapter in the history of modern art in Zimbabwe. The well-illustrated catalog portion (volume 2, pp. 141-184) mirrors the sequence of essays showing examples of all types of art. Not every work in the exhibition is illustrated, however.

Contents: Paul Wade, Contemporary art in Zimbabwe; – Jonathan Zilberg, The Western reception of a modern African art: the case of Zimbabwean stone sculpture; – Geert Gabriël Bourgois, Twentieth-century stone sculpture in Zimbabwe; – Georges Stoops, Petrography of the rocks used for Zimbabwean sculpture; – Elizabeth Randles, Mission art in Zimbabwe; – Timothy O. McLoughlin, Zimbabwean landscapes and cityscape: some examples from Zimbabwean painters and writers in English; – Pip Curling, Outsider art: subject and style; -- Geert Gabriël Bourgois, Tourist art: a blessing in disguise?,; – Neo Matome and Stephen Williams, Bridging cultural boundaries: a school of art and design for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.

Reviewed by Gary van Wyk in African arts (Los Angeles) 32 (1): 17, 88-89, spring 1999.

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Leyten, Harrie M. Tengenenge: een beeldhouwersgemeenschap in Zimbabwe / Harry Leyten. Baarn, Netherlands: Kasteel Groeneveld, c1994. 120pp. illus. (pt. color), bibl. refs (page 119). NB1209.Z55L49 1994 AFA. OCLC 37343584.

This catalogue was published to accompany the exhibition "Tengenenge Old-Tengenenge New" at Kasteel Groeneveld, Baarn and in the Africa Museum, Berg en Dal, Netherlands, May 19-September 26, 1994. The "old and new" refer to three generations of stone sculptors who have worked at Tengenenge Sculpture Community in northern Zimbabwe from its establishment in 1966 to the present. Tom Blomefield, former tobacco farmer with an artistic bent, recounts how Tengenenge came into being following the Universal Declaration of Independence in Rhodesia in 1965 and the collapse of the tobacco business. The farm laborers became sculptors to eke out a livelihood. Chrispen Chakanyuka and Lemon Moses were the first. The war of the 1970s shut down Tengenenge but by 1980 it revived.

Harrie Leyton writes a thoughtful well informed essay on the history and growth of Tengenenge Sculpture Community through these three phases: 1966-1978, 1981-1987, and 1988 to the present. It is not generally realized that Tengenenge artists have come from Malawi, Angola and Mozambique as well as from Zimbabwe. The now legendary feud between Tom Blomefield and Frank McEwen set Tengenenge on an independent course to make its own name apart from the art establishment in Harare, which was dominated by McEwen. With commercial success came the questions of authenticity, repetition, innovation, and quality. Zimbabwe stone sculpture has both succeeded and failed on these points, and Tengenenge Sculpture Community is no exception.

The sculptures in the present exhibition are lent by the Chupungu Sculpture Park in Msasa, Harare. Photographs and biodate are included for the sculptors.

 

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McEwen, Frank. "Return to origins: new directions for African art," African arts (Los Angeles) 1 (2): 18-25, 88, winter 1968. illus.

To McEwen the artists associated with his Workshop School in Harare (then Salisbruy) are the only truly authentic modern artists in Africa. Unlike the sappy, uninspired, homogenzied work coming out of the third-rate art schools in Africa, the Zimbabwe art arises "from the bowels of Africa." Nurtured and protected, "a dormant genius has revived." McEwen is unabashed in his defense of the role of the National Gallery in promoting, housing, and sponsoring artists of talent. What is interesting in this early manifestation of Zimbabwean talent is the number of painters -- works by Thomas Mukarobgwe, Charles Fernando, and Joseph Ndandarika are illustrated here. That part of the Zimbabwe art movement seems to have died out in favor of the stone carving. The sculptors Bernard Manyandure, Boira Mteki, Barakinya, Lemon Moses, Joram Mariga, and Kumberai Mapanda are also illustrated in this article.

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Mawdsley, Joceline. Zimbabwe stone sculpture: the second generation : Dominic Benhura, Arthur Fata, Jonathan Gutsa, Tapfuma Gutsa, Kakoma Kweli, Wonder Luke, Colleen Madamombe, Fabian Madamombe, Eddie Masaya, Anderson Mukomberanwa, Alice Musarara, Joseph Muzondo, Agnes Nyanhongo, Gedion Nyanhongo, Brighton Sango, Norbert Shamuyarira, Staycot Tahwa / [designed and written by Joceline Mawdsley]. Harare, Zimbabwe: Chapungu Sculpture Park, 1994. [48]pp. illus. (pt. color), bibliog. (page 48). Notes: "A touring exhibition, launch venue, 1994, Atkinson Gallery, CRMA Fine Arts Centre, Millfield School Street, Somerset, England." Includes artists' biographies. NB1209.Z55M46 1994 AFA. OCLC 34126628.

Thirty-five years after the beginning of the Zimbabwe stone sculpture movement, one can speak of the emergence of a second generation of sculptors. Most emerged as artists from the late 1970s. With the coming of independence in 1980 and with the support and encouragement of the first generation of sculptors, these newer (mainly younger) sculptors have flourished. The second generation, according the Mawdsley, are pushing the boundaries of Zimbabwe stone sculpture in innovative and important ways, such as combining stone with wood and other materials. The forms, too, are changing, and there is a move away from the overall highly polished stone surfaces.

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Mor, Ferdinand. Shona sculpture / photographs by David Hartung; preface by Robert Mugabe; translated from the Italian by Belinda McKay. Harare: Jongwe, 1987. 160pp. illus. (color), map, bibliog. NB1096.6.R5M82 1987 AFA. OCLC 18537957.

Mor, a former Italian ambassador to Zimbabwe, has encapsulated the Shona sculptural tradition for nonspecialists in what he calls "a text and an invitation." An informed layperson, he wrote this non-scholarly but thoughtful and sincere essay, obviously, as a labor of love. Although Mor uses the designation "Shona" sculpture, now generally discarded as misleadingly narrow, the list of artists (pp. 152-158) mentions several who are of Yao, Chewa and other non-Shona origins. Mor's focus, however, is the "Harare school," and he interviewed a number of Harare-based artists. He discusses origins and developments -- Frank McEwen, Vukutu and Tengenenge communities -- characteristics and tendencies, even the stone itself as a medium of sculpture. Singling out John Takawira, Henry Munyaradzi and Nicholas Mukomberanwa as the three luminaries of the tradition, he also briefly discusses several others. One hundred sculptures are illustrated in color. Extensive bibliography, including newspaper articles, and list of exhibitions of Zimbabwe stone sculpture are appended.

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Noy, Ilse. The art of the Weya women. Harare: Baobab Books, 1992. 184pp. illus. (pt. color). [distributed: African Book Collective, Oxford]. N7396.6.R5N94 1992 AFA. OCLC 29293467.

This attractively produced book, with many color photographs, is a collaboration between rural Zimbabwean women and a German artist and art teacher, Ilse Noy. Noy originally taught Zimbabwean women in the Weya Communal Area sewing and painting, to help them supplement their subsistence farming earnings. Through their art, the women revealed aspects of their lives and traditions. They talk about their work in the captions with the color photographs of the best of their artwork. In the accompanying text, the women talk about their worlds of marriage and children, sexuality and death, spirits and ancestors, hopes and worries. The book is at once a book about the art of the women, and a glimpse into the fabric of the artists' lives.

Reviewed by Janet L. Stanley in African book publishing record (Oxford) 20 (3): 181, 1994; by Victoria Scott in African studies review (Atlanta) 38 (1): 168-169, April 1995.

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Pearce, Carole. "The myth of `Shona sculpture,'" Zambezia; the journal of the University of Zambia (Harare) 20 (2): 85-107, 1993. table, notes, bibl. refs. Abstract, page 85. H1.Z35X AFA.

Zimbabwe stone sculpture was so delimited and channeled by Frank McEwen and subsequently by other promoters that it was inevitable that the sculpture has become homogenized, commercial and formulaic. Its "authenticity" is the modernist vision imposed by McEwen, whose insistence on shielding the artists -- rural, largely uneducated men -- from pernicious outside influences has in fact stunted their growth as artists. "Shona sculpture" has remained remarkably consistent over the years in theme and content -- conservative, rural, idealized, detached from realities of life in Zimbabwe. Working the stone is conceptually easier than formulating an idea in a two-dimensional painting. McEwen preferred stone as the medium best able to express this "authentic" African creativity. The market demands and taste for Zimbabwe stone sculpture have perpetuated these formulaic and conventional artistic solutions.

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Ponter, Anthony and Laura Ponter. Spirits in stone: the new face of African art. Sebastopol, CA: Ukama Press, 1992. 202pp. illus. (color), bibliog. NB1096.6.R5P814 1992 AFA. OCLC 26610101.

Lavishly produced, Spirits in stone is a cross between a glossy coffee-table book, a slick sales catalog from an upscale department store, and a save-the-planet environment magazine. Art history this is not. One should place this book at the opposite pole from serious art history. Generic sculptures -- the owl symbolizes this, the lion symbolizes that -- are offered up for potential buyers, and a remote, exotic setting is evoked to complete the picture, with requisite wild animals and rainbow over Victoria Falls. Reader beware. Enjoy the pictures, which are suitably impressive and all in color, but skip the text, which is patronizing and preoccupied with making the reader feel good about Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe stone sculpture rather than understanding what it is all about.

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Spirit in stone: Zimbabwe Shona sculpture: the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, June 1-August 4, 1991 . [Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Natural History, 1991]. 24pp. illus., bibl. refs. qNB1096.6.R5S75 1991 AFA. OCLC 24169497.

For this American exhibition, Roy Cook selected nine Zimbabwe sculptors whose work represents for him the most outstanding and most seasoned of that country's stone sculpture. In so doing, he hoped to spark the interest of the American public (and other museums) in this art form. That these sculptures were shown in a natural history museum instead of an art museum raised a few eyebrows. The larger dilemma for Cook and others, who appreciate Zimbabwe stone sculpture as a truly fine art, is its rapid commercialization and consequent dilution by inferior imitations. Art critics here and in Zimbabwe have failed so far to draw the line: most viewers genuinely cannot see the difference between the good, the bad and the mediocre. Perhaps we should rely on Cook's judgment. His nine are: Edronce Rukodzi, Henry Munyaradzi, Joseph Ndandarika, John Takawira, Moses Masaya, Nicholas Mukomberanwa, Sylvester Mubayi, Norbert Shamuyarira, and Richard Mteki. Frank McEwen, the instigator of this artistic phenomenon, contributes an essay to this catalog entitled "Rebirth of an art."

Exhibition reviewed by Evelyn Castillo, "Spirit in stone: Shona sculpture," Real deal (Cleveland, OH) 1 (2): 5-7, June 21, 1991.

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Stanislaus, Grace. "Frozen spirit: Zimbabwean stone sculpture," Sculpture (Washington, DC) 11 (1): 44-47, January-February 1992. illus., bibl. refs. VF -- Artists -- Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe stone sculpture has been praised as "authentic tribal art," marketed as "spirits in stone," decried as "airport art." That it has been threatened by commercialism almost from the very beginning in the late 1950s is not in dispute. In fact, those who cry loudest are the art dealers.

Stanislaus singles out three sculptors, whom she feels rise above the angry debates and whose work speaks eloquently for itself. The three are Nicholas Mukomberanwa and Henry Munyaradzi of the first generation of Zimbabwe's sculptors, and Tapfuma Gutsa, a younger, more experimental sculptor.

Star sheds light on African 'Stonehenge'
By Richard Stenger
CNN
Thursday, December 5, 2002 Posted: 3:01 PM EST (2001 GMT)

(CNN) -- Mysterious ruins in Zimbabwe, nearly brushed this week by the shadow of a total solar eclipse, once served as an astronomical observatory to track eclipses, solstices and an elusive exploding star, a South African scientist said.

The Great Enclosure in the archaeological site of Great Zimbabwe, a crumbling ring of stone walls and platforms about 250 meters in circumference, was thought to have been a palace complex for regional rulers some 800 years ago.

But Richard Wade of the Nkwe Ridge Observatory thinks that the enclosure was used in a similar capacity as the much older Stonehenge in Great Britain.

The arrangement of the walls, the complicated symbols on stone monoliths and the position of a tall tower suggest that medieval Zimbabweans used the complex to track the moon, sun, planets and stars for centuries.

"The importance of Great Zimbabwe is that it was the capital of the only known sub-Saharan African Empire that lasted almost 1,000 years. Everyone in southern Africa somehow relates to this nucleus cultural complex," Wade said.

Several of the stone monoliths, for example, line up with certain bright stars in the constellation Orion as they rise on the morning of the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice.

Boosting an ancient legend
Another contains markings that coincide with orbital patterns of Earth and Venus, which could be used to forecast eclipses, Wade said.

In his most controversial position, Wade suggests that a tower at the complex, whose purpose has baffled historians, was probably built to observe an exploding star in roughly 1300 AD.

"This large conical tower in the great enclosure stands directly in line with the rising supernova remnant when seen from the observation platform and court area of the time," Wade wrote in a paper to be submitted to the journals Science and Scientific American.

"They requested that I send the work on completion," he said. "I have been peer reviewed now for almost four years and only recently have I received a nod from the South African science community."

Modern telescope observations indicate that a supernova lit up the sky at approximately the same time. Historic records make no mention of it, an omission that does not surprise Wade since the dying star appeared over the Southern Hemisphere, which at the time had virtually no literate cultures.

But oral legends in the region lend credence to the supernova idea, Wade said. The Sena people of Zimbabwe hold that their ancestors migrated from the north by following an unusually bright star in the southern skies.