the beginnings of rwavhi
RWAVHI specialises in contemporary stone sculpture from Zimbabwe. The company was established by former BBC journalist, Carolyn Dempster, in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2006. “Inevitably there came a point when, as a journalist in Africa, I had had more than enough of bearing witness to the impact of corruption, war, suffering, poverty and misrule. After 30 years I decided to stop and switch my focus. Africa has superb art, rich and diverse cultures, and immense creativity. The continent is, after all, the cradle of humankind. I chose to showcase stone sculpture from Zimbabwe because this is a modern art form which is deeply rooted in African spirituality, yet it speaks to all peoples, everywhere. This art form has an immediate, profound and visceral impact. There is simply nothing like it anywhere else in the world.”
WHAT'S IN A NAME
RWAVHI means chameleon in Shona, the language spoken by the majority ethnic group in Zimbabwe. Every Shona man, woman & child has a totem – an animal that he/she cannot kill and eat. It is taboo. “During my career as a journalist, and for some obscure reasons, the chameleon had became my spirit animal. While travelling in Zimbabwe, I often come across chameleons crossing the road and immediately stop to relocate them to safety. The sculptors laugh and say it is because RWAVHI is my totem.”
The Shona also have an ancient story to tell about the chameleon. According to their tale, God dispatched Chameleon – as a true and reliable messenger – to tell Mankind that we would live forever. However Chameleon, being slow and sure-footed, took his time getting this all-important message to Mankind. In the interim, Lizard had also been dispatched by God with the same message. But Lizard was very quick and not so reliable, and he reached Mankind first. He forgot the message from God and told Mankind that we are mortal. By the time Chameleon got to his destination, with the right message, he simply wasn’t believed, and it is for this supposed reason that chameleons are often killed by Africans who don’t trust the multi-hued creature with it’s all-seeing eyes, long tongue and leisurely gait, who arrived with the right message, but too late.
RWAVHI represents a creature that is ancient and rare, all-seeing and highly versatile, that can adapt to its environment, persist in the face of overwhelming odds, and gets there in the end. Slow but sure. Bringing the right, not the wrong message. A symbol for success in ever-changing Africa.
RWAVHI represents a creature that is ancient and rare, all-seeing and highly versatile, that can adapt to its environment, persist in the face of overwhelming odds, and gets there in the end. Slow but sure. Bringing the right, not the wrong message. A symbol for success in ever-changing Africa.
ETHICAL BUSINESS
RWAVHI supports fair trade and an ethical approach to art dealing. The company’s objective is to promote talented African stone sculptors, and in the process, build a sustainable business model that embraces a respect for the culture and traditions of the artists. RWAVHI has established a personal relationship with some 40 sculptors in Zimbabwe. Carolyn Dempster regularly travels to the Nyanga mountains in Manicaland and the rural areas of Central Mashonaland to renew relationships and seek out emerging artists in order to select the sculptures that RWAVHI exports for exhibition & sale.
The shona sculpture movement
The name Zimbabwe comes from two Shona words, ‘dzimba dzamabwe’ which means ‘Houses of Stone’ . It was born from the tradition of stone-carving dating back to the 12th century when the Great Zimbabwe settlement, a World Heritage site, was constructed out of hand-carved blocks of granite.
The founding artists of the contemporary stone sculpture movement are known as the First Generation (1957 to 1980). Amongst these original artists who resurrected the age-old tradition of stone carving in Zimbabwe in the early 1950’s were Joram Mariga, Bernard Matemera, Boira Mteki, John Takawira, Henry Munyaradzi, Sylvester Mubayi, Joseph Ndandarika, Nicholas Mukomberanwa, Joshua Manzi, Claud Nyanhongo and Fanizani Akuda.
Joram Mariga is often called the ‘father’ of the sculpture movement. He told the story of how he watched a farm road being built in Manicaland in the early 1950’s and noticed how easily the machinery cut through the stone. He decided to take a piece of stone home and try and sculpt it using the wood chisels he was using for wood carving. His efforts were brought to the attention of the first curator of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia), Frank McEwen, who encouraged the First Generation stone sculptors and helped them to showcase their art around the world. And so the modern stone sculpture movement of Zimbabwe was born.
Inspiration for these massive and iconic early works derives from a strong connection to the ancestors, the spirit world, and from the very soul of the artists. Bernard Matemera, one of the founders of the movement described it in this way: “ The spirits are everywhere in the air. In the rocks. A rock is like a fruit, like an orange or banana. You don’t eat them without peeling them first. It needs to be opened to be eaten. I open the rocks. The fruit is revealed inside”.
As this indigenous art movement gathered strength in the 1960’s, it garnered international critical acclaim. At any one time 5 out of the top 10 stone sculptors in the world during the 20th century could be found working in Zimbabwe. Their impact on world art has been immense. Pablo Picasso, who met several of the sculptors, acknowledged that he drew inspiration from and was strongly influenced by these original and intensely spiritual African works.
The next wave of sculptors, many of whom trained as apprentices to the First Generation, became known as the Second Generation. From 1981 onwards – Dominic Benhura, Agnes Nyanhongo, Gideon Nyanhongo, Richard Mteki, Joe Mutasa and Colleen Madamombe made their mark. Today, the stone scupture movement in Zimbabwe continues to flourish and grow, with a Third Generation of sculptors gaining an international reputation.
The founding artists of the contemporary stone sculpture movement are known as the First Generation (1957 to 1980). Amongst these original artists who resurrected the age-old tradition of stone carving in Zimbabwe in the early 1950’s were Joram Mariga, Bernard Matemera, Boira Mteki, John Takawira, Henry Munyaradzi, Sylvester Mubayi, Joseph Ndandarika, Nicholas Mukomberanwa, Joshua Manzi, Claud Nyanhongo and Fanizani Akuda.
Joram Mariga is often called the ‘father’ of the sculpture movement. He told the story of how he watched a farm road being built in Manicaland in the early 1950’s and noticed how easily the machinery cut through the stone. He decided to take a piece of stone home and try and sculpt it using the wood chisels he was using for wood carving. His efforts were brought to the attention of the first curator of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia), Frank McEwen, who encouraged the First Generation stone sculptors and helped them to showcase their art around the world. And so the modern stone sculpture movement of Zimbabwe was born.
Inspiration for these massive and iconic early works derives from a strong connection to the ancestors, the spirit world, and from the very soul of the artists. Bernard Matemera, one of the founders of the movement described it in this way: “ The spirits are everywhere in the air. In the rocks. A rock is like a fruit, like an orange or banana. You don’t eat them without peeling them first. It needs to be opened to be eaten. I open the rocks. The fruit is revealed inside”.
As this indigenous art movement gathered strength in the 1960’s, it garnered international critical acclaim. At any one time 5 out of the top 10 stone sculptors in the world during the 20th century could be found working in Zimbabwe. Their impact on world art has been immense. Pablo Picasso, who met several of the sculptors, acknowledged that he drew inspiration from and was strongly influenced by these original and intensely spiritual African works.
The next wave of sculptors, many of whom trained as apprentices to the First Generation, became known as the Second Generation. From 1981 onwards – Dominic Benhura, Agnes Nyanhongo, Gideon Nyanhongo, Richard Mteki, Joe Mutasa and Colleen Madamombe made their mark. Today, the stone scupture movement in Zimbabwe continues to flourish and grow, with a Third Generation of sculptors gaining an international reputation.
WHAT KIND OF STONE IS USED?
The stone used most often by the artists is Serpentine. This is a hard metamorphic rock that is found in Zimbabwe in hundreds of different colours. More than 250 ores and combinations of Serpentine rock have been identified – making Zimbabwe the only country in Africa with such an abundant resource suitable for sculpting. The hard, black form is referred to as Springstone. Other names the sculptors use for more colourful Serpentine stone is Opal, Green Opal, Fruit Serpentine, Black Serpentine and Golden Serpentine. The hardness of these Serpentinites varies from 2.00 – 5.5 on the Moh’s scale. Other rarer, harder stone also used for sculpting is Verdite – a green semi-precious gemstone, Lepidolite – a very hard stone found in a range of mauve and purple colours, Leopard Rock – which is mottled yellow and black as it’s name suggests, and Saprolite, a milky white very dense ancient rock that is difficult to carve. There is also Soapstone – a soft, chalky rock found on virtually every continent, which is easy to carve, and is most often used for carving curios.
WHERE IS THE STONE MINED, AND HOW?
The main source of Serpentine stone is to be found in the Great Dyke, a 530km long volcanic ridge of rock, 15km wide, and 2.5 billion years old, that runs through the centre of Zimbabwe. There are also beautiful Serpentine deposits in the Nyanga mountains in the east of Zimbabwe, bordering Mozambique.
The raw stone is selected and mined manually from rocky outcrops or open cast deposits, and then loaded onto trucks and taken to the artists’ home studios or art centres in Guruve, Harare, Nyanga and Mutare. Physically it is a gruelling task as the extraction of stone is largely done by hand. Historically, artists who live in the areas were the stone is located, could get free access to it. But the politicisation of the mines coupled with the collapse of the economy in Zimbabwe over the past several decades, has made it more difficult and costly for artists to access raw material.
The raw stone is selected and mined manually from rocky outcrops or open cast deposits, and then loaded onto trucks and taken to the artists’ home studios or art centres in Guruve, Harare, Nyanga and Mutare. Physically it is a gruelling task as the extraction of stone is largely done by hand. Historically, artists who live in the areas were the stone is located, could get free access to it. But the politicisation of the mines coupled with the collapse of the economy in Zimbabwe over the past several decades, has made it more difficult and costly for artists to access raw material.
ART, NOT CRAFT
Zimbabwe’s top sculptors spend at least 10 to 20 years honing their skills in order to produce the original sculptures selected by RWAVHI. Once a rock has been individually chosen, the artists carve out a form with chasing hammers, chisels, rasps and finally ‘finish’ the sculpture in a painstaking process of smoothing it using a series of graded sandpapers.
This is followed by the polishing process which involves heating the sculpture and applying transparent wax which soaks into the stone, bringing out its’ unique colours, before the piece is cooled and polished with a clean cloth. It can take months to complete one single work of art. The vast majority of artists sculpt using only hand tools. Only very few use electric grinders and sanders, usually only for exceptionally hard types of stone.
By contrast, craft curios made for the tourist market are not particularly original. Carvings of the same theme are mass-produced, based on popular demand rather than self-expression or any spiritual inspiration. Curios are also mostly carved from Soapstone, as it is an easier material to work with, but which also damages easily and degenerates quickly.
HOW ARE THE SCULPTURES TRANSPORTED?
RWAVHI works with a team of sculptors to ensure that each RWAVHI sculpture selection is professionally polished, packed, crated and transported, guaranteeing that quality is paramount at all stages of the process. Sculptures are then exported to South Africa by road freight to be exhibited at RWAVHI’s gallery in Johannesburg .
Works purchased from the gallery to be shipped internationally are carefully inspected, re-polished and crated and sent via airfreight. Extremely large or heavy pieces are sent via seafreight and may require special machinery for transport and placement.
Works purchased from the gallery to be shipped internationally are carefully inspected, re-polished and crated and sent via airfreight. Extremely large or heavy pieces are sent via seafreight and may require special machinery for transport and placement.
A WORD TO THE WISE
Choosing an authentic stone sculpture from Zimbabwe can be a tricky process. International exposure brought Zimbabwe’s stone sculptors critical acclaim, but it also spurred worldwide demand for Zimbwean stone sculptures, regardless of quality or originality.
Today there are literally hundreds of people carving in Zimbabwe who have questionable technical skills, and little or no artistic vision. The collapse of the national economy has brought increasing hardship, and stone carving is seen by many Zimbabweans as a way out of poverty. Apprentices can and do copy the style of their mentors and will then try and pass off the copies as the works of these masters. There are also frequent attempts to fraudulently sell so-called ‘originals’ by the First Generation founders of the art movement for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Many art dealers and gallerists choose to work through agents to procure works for sale. As a result, they do not have first-hand knowledge of the artists, their particular style of sculpting nor the authenticity of the works. Because RWAVHI founder Carolyn Dempster personally selects all work, and has established a personal relationship with the sculptors over the past 15 years, RWAVHI guarantees that all sculptures sold on this site are authentic original works by the artists cited.
Today there are literally hundreds of people carving in Zimbabwe who have questionable technical skills, and little or no artistic vision. The collapse of the national economy has brought increasing hardship, and stone carving is seen by many Zimbabweans as a way out of poverty. Apprentices can and do copy the style of their mentors and will then try and pass off the copies as the works of these masters. There are also frequent attempts to fraudulently sell so-called ‘originals’ by the First Generation founders of the art movement for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Many art dealers and gallerists choose to work through agents to procure works for sale. As a result, they do not have first-hand knowledge of the artists, their particular style of sculpting nor the authenticity of the works. Because RWAVHI founder Carolyn Dempster personally selects all work, and has established a personal relationship with the sculptors over the past 15 years, RWAVHI guarantees that all sculptures sold on this site are authentic original works by the artists cited.