‘Painful’ decision that changed Benhura’s life Dominic Benhura with one of his pieces
Dominic Benhura with one of his pieces

Dominic Benhura with one of his pieces

Godwin Muzari :  Memory Lane

His mother’s daily toil at a vegetable market pushed renowned sculptor Dominic Benhura to a decision that severed his relations with family members. After passing his Ordinary Level with flying colours, Benhura enrolled for Advanced Level to study mathematics, chemistry and biology. At the end of his first term in Lower Six, the artist announced that he was quitting school to pursue sculpture as a full-time stone carver.He was staying with his uncle in Tafara and everyone at home was disappointed. Even his mother, who was running a vegetable stall in Chitungwiza, was pained by the young man’s decision.

She had hope in her son’s future after raising him as a single mother. Benhura never saw his father who died five months before his birth in 1968.

So, after such success in his academic studies, there was hope that the young man was geared for a lucrative office job. The family was optimistic. Benhura’s future was more promising on the academic path because he had made imperative links with some well-wishing professionals.

Through his fascinating works as a part-time sculptor, he had attracted the attention of renowned architects in the city that had promised to avail a scholarship for him to further his studies at a foreign college regardless of the combination of subjects he would take at A-Level.

They had taken him for tutorials in architecture and the prospect of having a young professional with such an attractive job in the family made his relatives happy. In the midst of such hope and enthusiasm, Benhura dropped his bombshell.

“I was literally hated in the family. I had well-educated relatives and the society believed that academic pursuit was the only way to success in life. I had a passion for art and I could not suppress it. Even my teachers were surprised to hear that I was quitting school. Everyone close to me tried to advise me against my consideration, but I had made a final decision. I wanted to be a sculptor for the rest of my life,” Benhura recalled as he went down the memory lane of his career.

He had confidence because his part-time sculpting adventures since he was in Form One had been successful.

After relocating from his rural home in Murewa to stay with his uncle in Tafara, Benhura had learnt the basics of sculpture from his cousin Tapfuma Gutsa who was a popular visual artist.

His aunt had suggested that Benhura attends a school in Harare (then Salisbury) because he was bright. Through working with Tapfuma, Benhura discovered his talent in sculpture and developed serious passion for stone-carving.

He started earning good income from selling his pieces to the extent of paying school fees on his own since he was in Form Two. He emphasises that he paid the fees out of choice, not lack, since his uncle could afford the obligation.

By the time he quit school, he had made contacts in the industry and approached then director of Chapungu Sculpture Park, Roy Gathrie, for working space at the establishment. Gathrie was also surprised by the young man’s decision to quit school and advised him to reconsider his options.

“After numerous visits to Chapungu, I managed to convince Guthrie to take me aboard. I had to move out of my uncle’s house in Tafara because there was serious tension over my decision. I relocated to Kuwadzana, but I was still to convince my mother that I had made the right choice.

“She did not know that one of the reasons I had chosen to be my own man was to look after her. I was not happy with how she lived in squalid conditions and how she toiled at the vegetable market. I wanted her to live a better life and the rate of my part-time income proved I could make it if I became a full-time sculptor.”

Benhura then approached his mother with his brothers and showed her savings he had made before quitting school. He wanted her to quit her market work and live on the savings.

“At first it was not easy to convince her. We took time and did so much explaining. When she finally agreed, she said she wanted to relocate to our rural home. I was against the idea. I wanted to find decent accommodation for her in Harare and I had a vision to buy her a house.

“However, she insisted and I built a hut for her in the rural area. We agreed that she would only go there periodically and we assigned someone to look after the hut. That year she decided to plant some crops in our rural field and I insisted that she did not have to stay there for good. I had bigger plans for her.”

Sadly, when Benhura’s mother returned to Chitungwiza after planting her crops, she fell ill and died.

“It is the saddest moment of my career and life. I was preparing to go and see her in Chitungwiza after her return from the rural area and I got a call that she had been hospitalised. I informed my uncle and we went to Chitungwiza Hospital. She could not talk anymore, she could not move. We were told she had just collapsed. The doctors tried everything, but could not resuscitate her. She painfully left us before I could fulfil my wish of making her life better. All this happened so fast after I had left school.”

Despite the misfortune, Benhura remained focused and continued with his work. He had many people to convince that dropping out of school was not a bad decision.

His works began attracting serious attention from visitors to Chapungu. He invested more time in his work and his sales went up. Within a few months, he bought a house in Dzivaresekwa and moved to his new place.

He bought stones and stocked them at his house. He would sculpt at Chapungu in the afternoon and sculpt at home at night.

Gathrie admired his work and arranged Benhura’s first solo exhibition at Chapungu. He also wrote a book about Benhura’s talent and renowned sculptor Nicholas Mukomberanwa endorsed the young man’s works.

Mukomberanwa wrote the foreword in the book and also officially opened the solo exhibition. The exhibition opened floodgates for Benhura and he started attracting international attention.

He began globe-trotting and lifting the country’s flag in international exhibitions. His pieces stand in renowned international galleries and his name is revered in most parts of the world.

He has been to countries like England, Denmark, Holland, Switzerland, Sweden, Korea and Germany among others.

In fact, Benhura has toured all the continents in his 36-year journey as a professional sculptor. When he left Chapungu in 1994, he opened Dominic Studios, a gallery that houses sculptors, painters and fashion designers.

He established the gallery after buying a house in Greendale and he has since acquired many properties from the proceeds of sculpture. He has assisted sculptors at Tengenenge Arts Centre that he has worked with since the departure of former director Tom Blomefield. Benhura still tours extensively and has colourful memories about his international visits and exhibition.

He laughs when he recalls one tour of Botswana in the early days of his career.

“I was still young and had been called for a workshop. Unfortunately, there were no stones for carving at the site and I did not know what to do. The workshop was taking place at a remote place in Mahalape.

“I had no option but to consider wood carving. I had not done it before and it was not easy. I bought a wood chisel and asked a man from the area to take me to a nearby bush. We found a tree that I thought would work the trick. I worked on the wood using my stone-sculpture experience and it came out well. That piece became the cover of the workshop and I realised God planted something big in me.”

 

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