‘Sculptors are our cultural ambassadors’ Makore displays some of his pieces
Makore displays some of his pieces

Makore displays some of his pieces

Tawanda Marwizi Arts Correspodent
Playing plastic balls on plains in rural areas is one of the favourite activities for young boys growing up in the countryside. However in Guruve and Chiweshe, besides the plastic balls and cattle herding, young boys are taught to utilise the special stones that are found in those areas. While most of his peers got carried away by selling the stones to sculptors from other areas, Tawanda Makore leant how to carve them into sculptures.

His uncle Akens from Tengenenge Arts Centre taught him how to earn a living through art. As time went on, Makore got his inspiration from different aspects of life among them rampant increase of divorce cases. As evidenced by pieces in his gallery, the artist wishes to see communities that respect marriages.

Most of his pieces, made from opal and spring stone, portray women and their husbands celebrating life and marriage. “I have been inspired by the rate of divorce cases in the country. This has prompted me to work tirelessly to craft pieces that encourage peace and love among couples,” said Makore. He said it was important for people to understand that marriage enhances cultural amalgamation and there was need to respect it as an institution.

“Even the Bible encourages people to respect marriages. So people must understand that it is an important institution that gives us as Zimbabweans and people from several countries platform for cultural growth,” he said. Makore urged artists to create pieces that reflect our Zimbabwean culture.

“I have been to many countries and they like Zimbabwean stone works very much. That is our platform to reflect our culture and show the world our heritage,” he said. He said sculptors are ambassadors of Zimbabwean culture. “Artists should know that we are the ambassadors of our culture. We need to give proper themes to our works,” he said. He is happy with how people love Zimbabwe’s sculptors.

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