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The Herald, 13 September 1989
WHEN good art is relegated to the status of garden gnomes the gods have a right to show their displeasure.

Nicholas Mukomberanwa’s exhibition of past and recent sculpture opened at Chapungu Gallery on a cold and windy spring afternoon.

The physical discomfort of the weather served to highlight the aesthetic problems of viewing those worlds which are tucked into little niches amidst the rockeries and the succulents.

By even the most rigorous so-called “international” standards Mukomberanwa is an artist of vision and integrity.

His development as a sculptor can be traced on this exhibition from his early work such as Protecting Spirit to Man in a Trance, a recently completed work which Mukomberanwa himself says he feels comfortable with.

In Entranced by the Mbira, the stone is pierced to allow solid forms to envelop the meditative interior space. This piece and others like Meditating Woman testifies to Mukomberanwa’s maturity as an artist.

Form and content embrace in a total realisation of what sculpture is about.

LESSONS FOR TODAY

Award winning stone sculptor and teacher, Nicholas Mukomberanwa (1940-2002) is one of the best visual artists Zimbabwe has produced.

His influence in the stone sculpture movement left an indelible mark in the arts locally and internationally.

A Chapungu Sculptor Park official said Mukomberanwa’s works carried a lot of spiritual content, which is the case in most abstract art.

He started stone carving when he was a teenager, and joined the first generation of artists that took part in the National Gallery of Zimbabwe’s Frank McEwen Workshop School.

Mukomberanwa received a special award from then Prime Minister Robert Mugabe in 1986 for his contribution to the visual arts.

In 1989, he was overall winner in the annual Nedlaw/Baringa exhibition at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe for his piece “Street Beggar”, and in 1990, represented Zimbabwe together with Henry Munyaradzi at the New York exhibition “Contemporary African Artists: Changing Tradition” at the Studio Museum.

The arts industry has been adversely affected by the harsh economic conditions caused by the illegal sanctions. The Covid-19 pandemic has compounded their challenges. But they can still be big business through virtual exhibitions and sales.