Sculptor explains Mbuya Nehanda statue People take turns to have a look and take selfies at Mbuya Nehanda memorial site at the intersection of Samora Machel Avenue and Julius Nyerere Way in Harare at the unveiling of Zimbabwe’s First Chimurenga war icon’s statue by President Mnangagwa. Government erected the statue in honour of her heroic rebellion against colonialism in which she paid the ultimate price by being hanged. — Picture: Believe Nyakudjara

Talent Bope

When David Guy Mutasa came up with a statue of Mbuya Nehanda after being tasked to produce one, his first attempt was widely condemned as not depicting the real stature of the liberation war icon.

This meant Mutasa (66) had to go back to the drawing board and search for fresh inspiration.

Then it happened in a way he had never thought of.

Mutasa attributes his artistry work on designing the sculpture of Mbuya Nehanda to the influence of supernatural powers.

He said he dreamt of the design and the picture of the second statue, which came out perfectly and was widely accepted as depicting Mbuya Nehanda.

In the dream, Mutasa was directed to the National Archives to search for the particular picture of Mbuya Nehanda and he got it.

From the National Achieves he sat down to business without any further consultations.

The statue was eventually erected at the intersection of Julius Nyerere Way and Samora Machael Avenue in the Central Business District of Harare on Africa Day, where President Mnangagwa officiated.

Mutasa took two and half months to design the Mbuya Nehanda sculpture from bronze, spending 19 days working on framing the masterpiece. He said he chose to use bronze since it was durable and did not corrode.

“I appeased the spirits before I came up with the second structure after I did the first one which sparked outrage on social media,” said Mutasa.

David Guy Mutasa

“How I did it is very complicated. I used plaster of peris on the master piece and put the colour as well as wax and finally put loss wax into bronze to ensure durability. I used clay also since clay is very easy to mould and even to cut.” 

Asked how he felt after designing a national structure that carries the history of the country, Mutasa said he was proud of that and thanked President Mnangagwa for promoting local talent.

“I’m the same Mutasa that you know,” he said. “This is the greatest honour in my life to be chosen to do the statue of a heroine erected on the streets. We are blessed to have a listening President, if they were other presidents they would have chosen a foreign artist. He promotes the local talent, something that has never been done since 1980.” 

Mutasa attributed the good rains and harvests to the honour President Mnangagwa gave to the veteran freedom fighter. He said he was expecting to see all the fallen heroes and heroines who lie everywhere in the country given the same honour. Mutasa said statues must be erected in all the country’s 10 provinces, adding that would promote local tourism and keep history.

He urged the younger generation to preserve the history of the country and research a lot on it.

Mutasa was only 12 when he first worked with clay under the tautology of Job Kekana at St Faith primary school in Rusape.

 His father wanted him to be a farmer and had already gathered all the necessary requirements for Mutasa to enroll at Chibhero College of Agriculture.

“I did my primary education at St Faith in Rusape and proceeded to St Mary’s Magadalene in Nyanga for secondary education,” said Mutasa.

He paid tribute to Kekana who opened the School of Art at St Faith where he attained a diploma in Arts and Craft. Kekana was a missionary who was a talented artist and nurtured a lot of artists at that time.

“Arts was something in me, I decided to venture into art after deciding not to continue with school because my father wanted me to enrol with Chibhero College of Agriculture,” said Mutasa.

“Owing to this I came back to St Faith for tautology on art under Kekana. The diploma was a three-year course I attended in 1972.”

Mutasa now uses one of his places of residence in Old Snake Park along Bulawayo Road as a gallery.This was where he curved the famous statue of Mbuya Nehanda. Mutasa was demoralized after his father, who was a farmer, got arrested and detained before getting a judgement of 20 years in prison after he was caught by the white regime recruiting cadres to train in Mozambique for the liberation war.

The Mbuya Nehanda statue at moulding stage.

 

At that moment, Mutasa was playing a role of carrying potential war recruits to Nyanga for crossing into Mozambique through Gairezi River where they could use boats made of wood.

“I lost hope after my father was arrested for recruiting freedom fighters and ferrying them to Nyanga for them to cross into Mozambique for training,” he said.

“My father was heavily involved in politics. I was also involved at that age through driving my father’s vehicle carrying liberation cadres heading for training through River Gairezi.” 

Mutasa was born in a family of 11 being the fifth born.

He got married to Joyce Mutasa and had four children, among them Michael whom he said was a talented artist as well. 

Mutasa said his son developed the passion when he was very young, but he was not taking arts seriously as he was now one of the prominent farmers in Banket, in Mashonaland West.

“My first born Michael loves art,” he said. “Sometimes he curves stones, but he doesn’t take it seriously as he focuses more into farming.” 

Mutasa chronicled some of his artifacts which he did in the country and overseas and some were erected in prominent places and were also commissioned by prominent people.

“I have done a number of notable sculptures, the first one is the Zimbabwe Bird which I used bronze at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and the decorations on the eastern and western side of the RBZ,” he said. 

“The other decorations which I’m talking about depict the old methods of farming and the old systems of mining. These are important because our country mostly relies on the two systems for economic growth.

“If you get closer to that you would discover that there are people into farming and mining. 

“At the National Heroes Acre we challenged the Koreans for their artifacts through a petition which we delivered to the former President the late Robert Gabriel Mugabe who then tasked us to come up with what we thought could be good.

“This was because we were not happy about the faces of the statues, so we submitted our proposals based on our strong liberation war background. We came up with art of how dogs were unleashed to disperse the political gatherings, another one of freedom fighters crossing into Mozambique through river Gairezi, so we did the art panels together with the Koreans.”

Mutasa said in 1984, he donated a sculpture of an unknown freedom fighter in plaster to the ruling Zanu PF when it using offices at Robson Manyika before relocating to the Showgrounds. 

“Beyond the borders, in England, I was nominated to curve the sculpture of an artist called Alfred Furgon and also of Mucus Garvey who was a famous Indian revolutionary and the sculpture was put at Mucus Garvey Library in Tottenham,” he said.

“I also did the statue of a child, Hector Peterson, who was shot during the Soweto uprising in South Africa. Another notable one was the bust of Prince Charles which was in bronze and was commissioned by himself to mark the 10th anniversary of the Zimbabwean Independence.” 

Prince Charles was the one sent by the Queen of England to witness the lowering of the Union Jack and the hoisting of the Zimbabwean flag at independence in 1980. Mutasa likes travelling in and outside the country visiting resort areas.

“I want to encourage the young people not to spend their time on the internet looking for useless stuff, but they should search for the history of the country,” he said. “I applaud the Government for introducing the National Youth Service which we expect shall play a pivotal role in promoting knowledge on the history of the country.” 

Mutasa is also a farmer and grows tobacco and maize, and also does aquaculture.

He holds various positions as he is also a councillor for Makoni Rural District Council and is the council  chairperson. He is also the president of the Association of Rural District Councils, as well as the president of the Zimbabwe Local Government Association.

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