Zimbabwe's art of stone

from the CSMonitor

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Although communication with Zimbabwe is difficult, it's clear that some of the nation's 1,800 to 3,000 sculptors have scattered to other countries, says Ponter, a northern California art dealer who grew up in Zimbabwe.

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Shona art is unusual in a number of ways. For one, it's all crafted out of stone and almost entirely formed without the use of power tools, Ponter says. Instead, the stone carvers rely on hand tools and sandpaper. They create the smooth, colorful, and glossy surfaces of the sculptures by heating the stone's surface and then applying a substance such as beeswax.

The use of stone itself is unique in Africa, although it has a history in Zimbabwe. Ancient peoples in the Zimbabwe region of Africa worked with stone as early as the 13th and 14th centuries, creating the magnificent stone structures of the Great Zimbabwe complex that gave the country its name.

Finally, Shona art serves no special purpose, unlike much of African art – such as masks – which is used in spiritual ceremonies. The Shona artists "carve for the sheer joy of it," says Ponter's wife, Laura. The Shona sculptures are often abstract and stylized; they are so contemporary that they're frequently displayed in modern-art museums.

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