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 Born to a peasant family in 1968 in Murewa, 90 kilometers
northeast of Harare, Benhura is now a globally acclaimed artist
and a leading proponent of the style.
Sculptors from Zimbabwe's Shona ethnic group use basic tools to
carve deeply expressive art into heavy blocks of stone, that
often weigh several tonnes.
They explore traditional African themes such as motherhood in
both realist and abstract forms which periodically catch the
eyes of curators in far flung Western capitals.
The art form traces its lineage to the medieval empire of Great
Zimbabwe, founded in the 11th century, whose most renowned
artifact is a fish eagle hewn from soapstone.
A Shona sculpture exhibition has been running for the past month
at ValleyArts a New Jersey, USA, arts center. Shona sculpture is
also on display at New York's Museum of Modern Art, Chicago's
Field Museum of Natural History, Indianapolis Museum of Art as
well as the British Museum.
Benhura learnt the art from other sculptors, including his
cousin, after moving to the capital Harare in 1979, the year
before Zimbabwe won independence from Britain.
"I was so fascinated by people creating something out of stone,
so I asked them if I could help them polishing and finishing
their work," he told Reuters at his workshop.
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Eventually, Benhura found his own niche. His forerunners' work
was mostly static, he says, so he created forms in motion.
"My art celebrates life and I am inspired by my day-to-day life.
I do animals, I do plants, I do birds, but I'm more inclined
towards women and children," he says, explaining this was
because he was brought up by his mother and aunt after his
father died shortly before he was born.
Benhura's work propelled him out of poverty and early family
tragedy to a life he describes as blessed. At 23, he bought his
first house in one of Harare's townships. He now lives and works
at his gallery in one of the capital's more affluent suburbs.
He also has permanent exhibitions in Atlanta, Colorado, Victoria
Museum in Melbourne, Australia, and in Siena, Italy.
"As much as Zimbabwe is renowned for this stone sculpture ....
we do not have many pieces in museums because in Africa we don't
have (enough of) our own museums," Benhura laments.
"I wish we'd have more so that our work is also retained in
Africa for our future generations."
(Editing by Tim Cocks and Alexandra Hudson)
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