Spectacular Stone Angels

I finally made it to the Zimbabwean Stone Angel Exhibition in Greenside, Johannesburg and it was spectacular. The theme is Woman: hence the exhibition being titled: Rock Angels. It's a celebration of women in Zimbabwean life, interpreting their influence and presence everyday life and spiritual belief as spirits are often said to manifest in the female form.
What this exhibition did for me was remind me just how much we, Africans undermine ourselves and our abilities. We have somehow bought into every other person's definition of who we are except our own. This is a painful reality to revisit. I am however encouraged by the interest that the Rwavhi Gallery has taken to bring to the fore this talent when even the neighbours to Zimbabwe's artists are oblivious of their existence.

I learnt that the sculptures are all handmade, you only have to look at just one them pieces to realise just how much work must go into making it, all that chipping away at the Serpentine rock until some semblance of shape starts to appear. What's so special about this process is that besides them using this rock that's only found in a few places including Southern Africa, once the stone carvers have sculpted the stones, they polish them by hand using wax polish to bring out the natural colour of the stone that we see.

As I walked through the garden, looking at these magnificent works of art, i found myself not really concerned with what each meant or represented but rather wondering if their creators see the worth of their work and get due credit for it in all the ways that count. I asked myself this because when I looked at the profiles, I did not see anyone with a distinguished or even average background. These are rural, very rural individuals whom God saw fit to bless with this unique gift, using one of natures hardest elements as a means of self expression.
Unfortunately I didn't have time to take down information about the sculptures and so I will try to name those I remember and  update them all at a later stage. I tried to put as much as possible in this gallery for your perusal but there are many more left out, in total there are 75 sculptures being exhibited.

In closing: My dream is that we all (particularly my fellow Africans) undertake to actively support African artists in anyway or form, particularly the sculptures, painters and writers. These I think are the most undermined forms of art in our continent. Where will our continent be without an awesome imagination. We will not be in a position to create a continent fit for the gods and goddesses that we are because we will not see it where it matters most, in our minds eye.

This one is called Gabrielle's Ladder and you note that the grey area has
not been polished and the shiny section had.

She's called Never Been Kissed........how cute

Loving the wolf

I can't imagine how long it would take to create this intricate hair pattern.
Look out for other such styles.

the dancer

Windswept

Surprise

Listening to my ancestors

Sharing secrets

Under my skin

Precious Gift

Humans in nature

Gabrielle's Ladder

Madonna and Child

Hugging a shark

Independent

I can't remember the sculptures name but this is the Gallery Owner: Carolyn