The Myth of 'Shona Sculpture'

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Periodical article

Title:	The Myth of 'Shona Sculpture'
Author:	Pearce, Carole
Year:	1993
Periodical:	Zambezia
Volume:	20
Issue:	2
Pages:	85-107
Language:	English
Notes:	biblio. refs.
Geographic terms:	Zimbabwe Southern Africa
Subjects:	Shona sculpture Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Architecture and the Arts Art, Architecture, Music, Drama Shona (African people) art
External link:	https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.10520/AJA03790622_498
Abstract:	'Shona sculpture' has always relied heavily for its commercial success on its supposed authenticity and autonomy. However, the genre is neither rooted in the spontaneous expression of traditional black spirituality, nor is it an autonomous contemporary black art form. The works are not uniformly 'expressive': they form a continuum from expressionist to naturalistic, from abstract to figurative. The dominating style is figurative and seminaturalistic, expressing a limited range of bland and secular themes. The sculpture is easily explained as a deliberate product of the modernist tastes of white expatriates during the 1950s and 1960s and, in particular, those of the first Director of the Rhodesia National Gallery, Frank McEwen. There were also two influential art schools where some of the originators of Zimbabwe's 'Shona sculpture' were trained. The first of these schools was at Cyrene, started in 1940 by Canon Paterson. The other was at Serima, started by Fr. Groeber. Notes, ref., sum.