Zimbabwe Batik and Scupture Sale.
Photo courtesy of the anonymous New Yorker from Rhodesia / Zimbabwe.Zimbabwe has important traditions that are different from other African places; its history is mainly of its architecture. The Shona and Ndebele people both built complicated stone structures. There are hundreds of stone ruins throughout Zimbabwe from large towns such as Great Zimbabwe to small rural villages. The ruins go as far back as the 11th century AD. The stone building tradition was not like any other in this area and reached great levels of skill and complexity. The native people of the Great Zimbabwe have a tradition of carving green and brown soapstone that was found in the area. They carved soapstone birds. These carved birds in Great Zimbabwe have inspired a long tradition of stone carving. Who built the Great Zimbabwe is still one of the mysteries left to solve.
The most traditionally created artwork was stone sculpting. The sculpting is mostly abstract, and depicts the people and the animals that live all around them. They make these sculpting's out of the rocks that are around the streets of Zimbabwe, the types of rocks that are used are granite, sandstone, quartz, and verdite. These rocks are heated and polished to a high shine that reveals opulent colors, such as green, brown, black and even gray. Then, after the artists are done sculpting, they polish until it’s flawless.
Another type of art that Zimbabwe is known for is their amazing Batik art. Batik art is Japanese for “wax painting”. What they do is first make a good sized fabric. Then they paint the resulting fabric on both sides with melted wax. The wax is traditionally poured from a copper pot with many spouts. The cloth is then dipped in dye, which is taken in by the exposed areas of wax, but not absorbed by the waxed area. After the dying, it results in a light area over a dark ground. Then after that, they remove the wax, usually by boiling or dissolving. This process then could be repeated many times to achieve greater color, and also maybe different colors to achieve great complexity in design.
Some famous Zimbabwean artists include, Nicholas Mukomberanwa, Joseph Muzondo, and Tapfuma Gutsa.
Nicholas Mukomberanwa was born 1940 and died recently in 2002. He was an amazing sculptor and he received an award for his outstanding contribution to Zimbabwean sculpture. The President, Robert Mugabe in 1986, gave this award to him.
Joseph Muzondo has been sculpting since 1982. His technique is very different from other artists, he combines two different carved stones, and puts them together, usually with metal pins, or just using positioning. One of his creations has been used on the commemorative stamp of Zimbabwe in 1988.
Tapfuma Gutsa, in 1989, he was chosen to demonstrate the subject of a major exhibition at the Studio Museum in Harlem. On November 1, 1996, the Reece Gallery in New York hosted the first exhibition of Tapfuma's work in the United States.
To see samples of sculpture we recommend this site--
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