Why Is the Surface So Shiny? How Is the Stone Polished?

After a stone is shaped, chiseled and rasped, the artists hand-sand the surface with wet sandpaper. (Before sandpaper, artists would use river sand and a rag in their hands to sand the surface smooth). At first, the polish used was a plant or vegetable oil. Then, later, other polishing techniques evolved, included "firing the stone" and applying layers of wax, usually carnuba or beeswax. This particular technology was solely innovated in Zimbabwe.

How Many Carvers Are there? Are They Formally Trained?

Approximately 1500 out of the 10+ million Shona are sculpting today. Although some sculptors work in cooperatives, the majority of the carving is done by singular sculptors with no formal training.

Are These Religious Objects of Worship?

No. In fact, the Shona do not revere the carvings because they are considered expressions to assuage, pay homage and show respect for the ancestral spirits. Since the sculpture does not serve a utilitarian purpose in the community (such as an axe or cattle), it does not hold a position of awe or importance. The sculptures therefore constitute decorative art symbolic of communication with the ancestral spirits.

Has the Art Been Recognized?

Yes. The art is in the permanent collections of the Rodin Museum, Paris; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museum of Mankind, London; National Gallery of Zimbabwe; Museum of Modern Art, Frankfurt, and the Kresge Museum in Lansing, Michigan. Picasso was apparently an early fan of Shona sculpture. Frank McEwen, the first director of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia), was a friend of Picasso's and sent the artist photographs of Shona sculpture in the 1950's. Art critics have long noticed Picasso-esque lines in the work of several acclaimed Shona sculptors, but only recently has the possibility surfaced that Picasso may have, in his last years, been influenced by the Shona.

Read Press Reviews about Shona Art.

Where Is Zimbabwe?

Located in southeastern Africa, Zimbabwe is a landlocked country of 150,804 square miles-about the size of Montana-bordered by Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana and Zambia. Zimbabwe has a total population of approximately 12 million+ people. The Shona people make up 80%, the Ndebele 15%, others such as the Tonga 4%, with the English, Indian, Greek and other nationalities accounting for 1%.

Why Is It Named "Zimbabwe"?

The name Zimbabwe means "stone houses" and was taken from the Great Zimbabwe. This massive, ruined, stone city in southeastern Africa housed a flourishing international trading center as long as 800 years ago. Plundered and defaced in the 1800's by European explorers (including Cecil Rhodes and his followers) after it had been abandoned, Great Zimbabwe was long believed by colonials to have been the ancestral home of the Queen of Sheba, or the work of traveling Phoenicians, or other European people who traveled to Africa, built a civilization and disappeared. The Rhodesian government which ruled the country from 1923 to 1980 officially denied any connection between the present-day Shona and the builders of the Great Zimbabwe. However, oral tradition and archeological evidence definitely points to a direct link between the two. When the white minority government was defeated in 1980, the black majority reclaimed their land and proud heritage with the creation of the new country of Zimbabwe.

Why Isn't More Known About Zimbabwe and the Stone Sculpture?

Geopolitically isolated for many years, Zimbabwe was a little-travelled British colony. Then, on November 11, 1965, the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (called UDI) was declared and trade sanctions were imposed against Rhodesia. As a result, the country's economy became further isolated from the Commonwealth and the Western world. In 1972, civil war was declared on the Smith regime. Zimbabwe later gained peaceful independence under majority rule in 1980. Since independence, Zimbabwe is again being discovered by tourists, and anthropological studies have now begun again on the stone ruins throughout the country.