Although Shona Abstract sculpture appears to be a modern art movement, it is often considered traditional in conception and within the context of Zimbabwean art. An essentially spiritual tribe, the Shona people had been producing visionary ornaments that also functioned as ritualistic tools for centuries. This “creationism” as it is often referred to, glorified rights of passage, inaugurations, nature and ancestry. Read more...

The movement began in 1957, when the newly appointed director of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) observed this deeply rooted creativity already living amongst the Zimbabwean peoples. He exercised his influence to establish and encourage artist workshops where skilled and untrained alike could learn the masterful art of carving from stone. The studio would be a place dedicated to the preservation of both tradition and individual expression. These humble beginnings would steer an art movement that exists into its third generation today.

The spirit of the Shona tradition remains. The Abstract Shona sculptor is a visionary who derives his inspiration from both traditional mythology and individual expression. But now, Individual style takes precedence over functionality and freedom of form abolishes any artistic standards. So free, in fact that this artist may at times feel as though they are the medium between spirits and the stone itself.

Shona art has become a massive movement of sculpture considered to be one of the most important movements to come out of Africa in the 21st century, while certainly always retaining a level of fresh ideas and individualism. Its international importance has elicited exhibitions in Musee d’Art Moderne in Paris and the Museum of Modern Art New York.

SHONA SCULPTURE
…the art form that inspired Picasso

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

… 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

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
- Western Indian World