Shopping: Africa : Rock Stars of Zimbabwe : Inspired by the region’s stark beauty, East African artists chisel grace from stone

It is a long and sometimes rocky road to the source of Shona stone sculptures, but lovers of three-dimensional art may find the trip to eastern Africa worthwhile despite the bumps, many of which are more than figurative.

The quarry and sculptor cooperative, Tengenenge, is the principal creative font of the carved stone. It is a 4,500-acre, one-time tobacco farm, about 65 miles north of Harare near the village of Guruve, and it is reachable by four-wheel drive vehicle. Those who don’t have access to a car can take a bus most of the way, but visitors are told they should expect to walk the last 12 miles to the Tengenenge workshop.

Landowner and patron of the arts Tom Blomefield, owner of the Tengenenge farm, first made stone and space available to the sculptors in the late 1960s. Today, as many as 100 artists are associated with Tengenenge, where affiliation is voted upon by senior artists based on the newcomer’s quality of work, ability to get along with other members and talent for producing marketable sculpture. The artists reportedly use only hand tools; power tools are not part of the Shona tradition and, for many, electricity is not available.

The Shona name comes from the dominant and largest ethnic group of Zimbabwe, which was known as Rhodesia before 1980. However, other tribes are represented in the Shona genre, as are artists from neighboring Malawi, Mozambique, Botswana and Tanzania.

Hundreds of these artists work in their huts in the suburbs of Harare or are associated with private or government “sculpture gardens,” which vary from small collections of back-yard size to massive exhibitions, such as those at Tengenenge and at Chapungu, another sculpture park near the center of Harare. A few of the established masters of Shona stone sculpture are reputed to earn as much as $250,000 a year but most earn far less. One master artist, Richard Mteki, whose earnings are at the high end, reportedly supports an extended family of 65 members with his sculpture.

The sculptures are often executed in the richly grained and varied colors of serpentine stone--oranges, reds, greens and black. Other hard stone such as granite is also used, and verdite, a green, semi-precious stone, is a favorite medium.

The works can be representational or abstract, commonly with animal, spirit or family themes. The art form is rooted in the personal, cultural and spiritual backgrounds of the artists, rather than in the ancient rituals or traditional expressions generally associated with other forms of African art.

Devotees of Shona sculpture emphatically point out that it is modern art. And while it is frequently representational, it is not so in the sense of classic European sculpture. The figures often are heads or busts characterized by chiseled, polished features blending into rough stone. A few titles of more illustrative pieces speak of the themes: “Melancholy Girl,” “The Kiss,” “Deep in Thought,” “Old Lion,” “Farmer Resting,” “Man Emerging from Plant” and “Woman of Wisdom.” Other sculptures, such as the extraordinarily lyrical “The Dance,” approach modern cubism.

Important collectors of Shona sculpture include the Rockefellers, England’s RoyalFamily, the Rothschilds, the New York Museum of Modern Art and the Rodin Museum in Paris, all of which have lent impetus to the movement. Newsweek magazine in 1987 characterized Shona sculpture as “perhaps the most important new art form to emerge from Africa this century.” In the last 15 years, it has been exhibited in major museums and galleries in Europe, Canada and the United States.

Surprisingly, the Shona movement began less than 35 years ago, with financially hard-pressed farmers, herders and miners reportedly first working with chisels fashioned from discarded auto springs and other makeshift tools, both as a form of self-expression and as a means of self-support.

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For today’s travelers who prefer to shop for Shona sculptures close to the comforts of Harare--Zimbabwe’s capital city of about 1 million people--there are a number of small, private galleries offering excellent quality sculpture in the city center.

Shoppers should use Harare’s First Street Mall as a starting point (any cab driver will know where this is) to explore the area bounded by Samora Machel Avenue, Robert Mugabe Road, Fourth Street and Julius Nyerere Way. The Matombo Gallery and the Stone Dynamics Sculpture Gallery are among the quality galleries in or near this area.

Also in the vicinity, the National Gallery of Zimbabwe has an extensive collection of African art dominated by Shona sculpture, ranging from the work of established masters to that of promising but unknown artists--a large collection of which is contained within its sculpture garden. Shoppers will find a varied but significant collection of Shona for sale in the excellent museum shop.

The founding director of the National Gallery, Frank McEwen, is credited with being one of the prime patrons of Shona sculpture. In the early 1960s, he was the first to offer tools, space, encouragement and guidance to those who became the first masters of Shona stone sculpture. McEwen had seen the promising sculpture of Joram Mariga and some of his pupils in the late 1950s; they became the original members of the National Gallery’s workshop school.

About five miles east of the center of Harare, Chapungu Village has what is one of the country’s largest collections of Shona sculpture. It contains a gallery and an expansive, well-supplied sculpture garden covering several acres. Chapungu issues a certificate of authenticity with each sale, and visitors can watch resident artists creating their works. The admission fee is less than $1. If you take a taxi from the city center, you may be able to negotiate a reasonable rate for the driver to wait and return you to your hotel. Transportation and two hours of the driver’s time cost my wife and me just $15 on a trip this July.

High walls surround Chapungu. The visitor uses a footbridge to cross a small stream that runs in front of the gated entrance. Inside, a grassy slope rises with gentle swales toward the British colonial-style Gallery House, about 100 yards distant.

What strikes the visitor are acres of uncrowded, diverse sculptures, scores or perhaps hundreds of them, in no discernible arrangement--almost as if they had randomly grown there. Here and there in shady places are the sculptors’ work places, marked by unfinished pieces. Each sculpture commands its own space, some from concrete pedestals, and the space permits each work to be itself.

Sculpture costs vary little among Chapungu, the National Gallery and the private galleries. The best bargains are quality efforts by promising newcomers who haven’t yet established names. At the higher end, a large sculpture by an established master may sell for about $10,000, although Shona pieces have been priced at up to $50,000 in the United States. A small, well-done signed piece by a yet-to-be-established artist can run in the vicinity of $15. Pleasing copies of original designs, some of them in softer soapstone, may be found in Harare curio shops for even lower prices.

The purchase of Shona sculpture should be guided by personal taste and common sense. If a work captures the imagination, a closer look should examine the workmanship for overall excellence. Look for the artist’s name because a signed piece is usually an indication of pride. The buyer should also examine the stone itself for flaws, such as pits or cracks. While a stone with a not-too-intrusive flaw is not necessarily a caveat to a purchase, it should cost less than if it were perfect.

If quality is more important than price, look for the names of the first-generation masters: Takawira, Mteki, Mukomberanwa, Munyaradzi and Masaya. Names of second generation masters include: Sango, Shanuyarira, Zinyeka and Chiwaridzo.

One of the bumps on the road to acquiring Shona sculpture is getting it home. While a few small pieces can by tucked in luggage or carried aboard a return flight, serpentine, granite and verdite are heavy and there are practical limitations. Galleries will arrange shipping for customers, but it can add significantly to purchase costs.

GUIDEBOOK

Sources of Shona Sculpture

Getting there: From Los Angeles, take a connecting flight to Harare on British Airways, Air France or Swissair for about $3,200, now through the end of November when prices will rise to about $3,600.

Where to stay: Harare Sheraton, Samora Machel at the end of Pennefather Avenue (further out, but worth a look); tel. 011-263-4-729-771, fax 011-263-4- 796-678; about $120 for a double.

Meikles Hotel, Third Street and Jason Moyo Avenue; tel. 011-263- 4-795-655, fax 011-263-4-707-754; about $120 for a double.

Monomotapa Hotel, 54 Park Lane; tel. 011-263-4-704-501; about $145 for a double.

Places to buy Shona sculpture: Chapungu Village, 1 Harrow Road, about five miles east of the center of Harare, just off Mutare Road; telephone locally 474-72.

Matombo Gallery, 114 Leopold Takawira St.; tel. 792-472.

National Gallery of Zimbabwe, 20 Julius Nyerere Way; tel. 704-666.

Stone Dynamics Sculpture Gallery, 56 Samora Machel Ave.; tel. 702-508.

Tengenenge, about 67 miles north of Harare; best reached by four-wheel drive rental car or by hiring a car and driver. Rental car agencies in Harare include Avis, Hertz and National and a Harare company, Echo Car Hire.

In Santa Monica, the Barbara Ackerman Gallery, 2040 Broadway, has a diverse collection of fine quality Shona sculpture.

For further information: Zimbabwe Tourist Office, 1270 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 412, New York 10020; tel. (800) 621-2381.