History

Guarding The Flame

Important artists to benefit from the workshop school and Vukutu were Nicholas Mukomberanwa, Joseph Ndandarika, Thomas Mukorobqwa, Boira and Richard Mteki, Paul Gwichiri, Damian Manuhwa, and many others.  These men together with the great Tengenenge sculptors – Bernard Matemera, Henry Munyaradzi, Josiah Manzi, Sylvester Mubayi, and others – have been the inspiration for the second and third generations, and have laid the foundation for an art ‘happening’ described in 1987 as “the most important new art form to emerge from Africa in this century.”

Other centres of encouragement and creativity existed, including the artistic teaching at two mission schools – Serima, run by Father Groeber, and Cyrene, run by Canon Patterson.  However, a quite separate and different community of sculptors, Tengenenge, was founded by Tom Blomefield in the late sixties in the north east of Zimbabwe.  Blomefield had been a tobacco farmer in Guruve who, through the pressures of international sanctions against Rhodesia, was no longer able to provide reliable employment for his farm workers – many of whom had travelled to Zimbabwe from Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Angola.  In an effort to continue his support for these men and their families he encouraged them to make the change from farm labouring to art.  The land on which the community was sited included an impressive natural deposit of hard, carveable Serpentine and it was to be stone carving for which his men became respected and applauded over the following thirty years.  Frank McEwen and the National Gallery supported this community for several years before the establishment of its own rural workshop at Vukutu.

Blomefield, now 85 years old, is a man of empathy who relates personally to his artists and who respects their culture and their way of life.  He speaks their languages, attends their ceremonies, dances their dances, and laughs and grieves with them.  Although he had little knowledge of the arts, these qualities allowed artists to create from within their own memories and cultures without fear or criticism of censure.  This sensitive attitude allowed extraordinary and unique talents such as Lemon Moses, Bernard Matemera, Josiah Manzi, Wazi Maicola, Henry Munyaradzi, and Sylvester Mubayi to find their expression – all benefited from Blomefield’s generous spirit and sense of good.  This remarkable community struggled through difficult years (the seventies) but has grown considerably and operates by the same criteria established by Blomefield in the beginning.  Although Blomefield passed the control of Tengenenge to Dominic Benhura in 2008, he remains a respected figurehead.

Despite the international success and recognition of the sculpture, tensions between Frank McEwen and the Rhodesian government continued to grow, eventually forcing him to resign from his post as director in 1973.

Political upheaval within the country also heightened at this time and a fifteen year liberation war finally led to independence for the new Zimbabwe in 1980.  These years represented an extremely difficult period for the sculptors.  Many abandoned their art and many were unable to work in the dangerous rural areas.  Lacking the system of support and encouragement that existed with Frank McEwen, some artists struggled in isolation, only to re-emerge as confident talents in the eighties. During this period, Roy Guthrie was instrumental in providing continuity to the struggling artists, buying and promoting their works, and supporting artists at Tengenenge, when this was all that stood between them and destitution.  In this way, Guthrie kept the flame alive through the darkest hours of the movement’s history.

To assist in doing this, Roy Guthrie set up The Gallery Shona Sculpture in Harare 1970, which moved to its present parkland location at Chapungu Sculpture Park in 1985.  During the ten years of the struggle for independence its major role was to keep artists working by support, encouragement, and the purchase of works for possible future exposure.  Immediately after independence in 1980, Guthrie embarked on a series of exhibitions in major Western cities which, through their strength and quality, re-established the credibility of the McEwen era.  During this time he was also able to support and pay tribute to Tom Blomefield and his Tengenenge community, encouraging them to persevere.

Collection, preservation, promotion, encouragement, and documentation have been Chapungu’s main role since 1980 and the policy of acquiring major works for the permanent collection has enabled it to mount many of the most important and comprehensive exhibitions of past years, but has also meant that these works remain as sculptural heritage for future Zimbabweans to enjoy.  Part of the policies of encouragement and promotion has been the Chapungu Resident Artist Programme which has inspired many of the finest works created in recent years.  Today Chapungu Sculpture Park is acknowledged for its role through the difficult formative years.  It is home to the most comprehensive collection of important works and it remains a major promoter and supporter of the genre.