What Type of Stone Is Used In Sculpting?
The most often used stone is serpentine, which has a great range of hardness, depending on mineral inclusions. Rated on the universally used "Mohs Scale of Hardness" (1 and below is talc, up to 10 is a diamond) serpentine ranges from 2.0 to 5.5. The much harder granites, newly discovered "kwekwe" and "domboshava" stones and ancient brilliant green semi-precious verdite (3.6 billion years old), approach 9.0- the hardness of ruby, and are less frequently used by the artists. The serpentine found in Zimbabwe has a vast range of well over 200 color variations. Many of the carving stones come from the Nyanga Mountains or near the The Great Dyke, a volcanic ridge running for hundreds of miles through the countryside-the longest linear mass of volcanic rock in the world! Heat and pressure, concentrated on this ancient rock mass for millions of years have created unique mineral fusions now reflected in the unparalleled variety of colors, shadings, and combinations of stone.
Learn more about carving stones.

How Much Do the Carvers Receive From the Purchase?
Prices are set by each individual artist. Each price depends on the artist's carving ability, generation, position in the carving community, and the sculpture's truth to culture (folklore). As ethical exporters for over 20 years, we have always paid the artists for the sculpture in advance before it leaves Zimbabwe-we do not believe that the artists should bear the financial load, therefore, unlike other galleries, we do not take sculpture from the artists on consignment.

Does the Income Change Their Lives?
Once their minds are at ease as to the income of the sculptors, paradoxically, many people become afraid that the income will "spoil" the carvers and their traditional way of life! We also feel this concern is germane to the inter-cultural commerce. However, strong tribal traditions and cultural values do not include the hoarding of monies. To the traditional Shona, greed is considered an illness and an aberration which is to be treated by the n'ganga or tribal healer. In fact, the artists act as a conduit through which the money is spent on the needs of the entire extended family, i.e. housing, school fees, farming tools, medical needs. Some artists support up to 75 people with proceeds from sales of their sculpture. Through the "artist conduit", the money we spend has a appreciable and positive effect on approximately 9,000 people!

How Do the Artists Carve the Stone? What Tools Do They Use?
Many artist still show an ingenious capability to make tools from scrap metal in order to form the necessary equipment for carving. They carve with hand-made tools from pieces of old truck springs and may use found items such as carpentry nails for chisels. However, it is now more common for carvers to use chisels, punches and chasing hammers, although even these simple tools can be expensive and difficult to find. A very small percentage of artists (mainly those that carve realistic sculpture) may use power tools to add fine detail.
Learn more about creating a sculpture.

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, and is not used anywhere else, as far as we know!

How Many Carvers Are there? Are They Formally Trained?
Approximately 1500 out of the 12+ 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. See a list of artists in our collection.

Have the Artist Always Been Men?
Traditionally, yes. However, in the last few years, many women have begun carving (starting with Locadia Ndandarika) and have had their sculpture exhibited at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe and overseas. This has provided them with more formal recognition.

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, adze 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 B'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, but now-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.