ZimSculpt

Curators of Zimbabwean Sculpture Worldwide

The National Gallery & Frank McEwen

In the 1950s Southern Rhodesia – as Zimbabwe was then called under the apartheid regime of Ian Smith, the capital Salisbury (now Harare) was under pressure to educate themselves in European ways and saw the establishment of a University and a National Gallery.

mcewen

The Gallery enrolled their first Director from  the UK, Frank McEwen.

With McEwen’s considerable inspiration and encouragement, a scene of young and talented African stone sculptors started developing in the 60s.Having studied Art History previously at the Sorbonne in Paris, McEwen befriended many sculptors and artists such as Constantin Brancusi, Georges Braque, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso.  In 1930s Paris he had seen how much ethnic African art inspired modern European painting and sculpture.

In Rhodesia, he wanted to unearth the roots of this art and thus to unleash Africa’s creative potential.

Joram Mariga, John Takawira, Henry Munyaradzi, Nicholas Mukomberanwa and Joseph Ndandarika were among the first, and they later became the leading figures in this new movement.McEwen demanded of the young artists they create art for its own sake. They were told to draw inspiration from their inner imagery and the mythology of their Shona people.

The term ‘Shona Sculpture’ was born.