See Zim’s stone art in all its serene splendour

Tap into African spirituality at the Stone Angels exhibition of contemporary Zimbabwean stone sculpture, opening at Rwavhi Fine Art on 19 March 2011.

This exhibition of 75 sculptures by 40 Zimbabwean artists celebrates the woman – as object of inspiration, adoration and temptation; as mother, spirit, wife and lover.
These works will be on show in an indigenous garden and private home setting at the Rwavhi Fine Art gallery, located at 44 Mowbray Road in Greenside, Johannesburg, which is owned and run by former BBC World Service journalist Carolyn Dempster.

After 25 years of working as a reporter documenting conflict and poverty in Africa, she decided to switch her focus to celebrating the art and culture of the continent.
“I started with stone sculpture from Zimbabwe because it had become my passion,” she says. “It is a modern art form that on the one hand is so deeply rooted in African spirituality and culture, yet which speaks to you so directly and immediately that you cannot escape its profound impact.

“There is simply nothing like it anywhere else in the world.”

Dempster chose the name Rwavhi, meaning “chameleon” in Shona and Venda, for her art gallery after a life-changing encounter while working on a journalistic assignment in the Sahara Desert led her to adopt the chameleon as her personal sacred totem.

Since the Rwavhi garden gallery opened its doors in 2006, it has focused on raising the profile of African art and promoting the continent’s most exceptional original artists working in stone. The gallery supports fair trade and an ethical approach to art dealing.

Zimbabwe’s name comes from the Shona word “dzimbadzamabwe”, which means “house of stone”. It was so named because of the Great Dyke, a 500km-long, 2.5-billion-year-old volcanic ridge of rock running through the area that is abundant in more than 250 ores and serpentines.

The country has a long and illustrious history of stonemasonry, with its tradition of stone carving dating back to the 13th century. Today, many art critics believe that Zimbabwe’s stone sculptors are the finest carving by hand in stone in the world today.

Every year, Dempster travels to the Nyanga mountains in Manicaland and the rural areas of Mashonaland to seek out talented artists and to personally select the sculptures that Rwavhi imports to South Africa for exhibition, sale and art lease.

She has established close working relationships with some 50 Zimbabwean sculptors, and works with a team of sculptors in Harare to ensure that all the pieces are professionally polished, packed, crated and transported.

With works inspired by contemporary life as well as traditional and spiritual beliefs, Stone Angels will showcase works by a number of Zimbabwe’s most acclaimed sculptors, including Godfrey Matangira (from whose featured work the exhibition takes its name), Author Manyengedzo, Walter Mariga and Peter Makuwise.

The exhibition opens on Saturday, 19 March and runs until Sunday, 10 April. The gallery is open between 10am and 5pm daily, including Saturdays and Sundays. Enquiries may be directed to Carolyn Dempster on rwavhi.fine.art@icon.co.za.