What type of stone is used in Shona sculpting?

The most often used stone is serpentine. Serpentine ranges in hardness from 2.0 to 5.5 on "Mohs Scale of Hardness." It has a huge range of color variations, but most pieces will have some brown, green or black in them.

How much do the carvers receive from the purchase?

Prices are set by the artists. We are members of the Fair Trade Federation (www.fairtradefederation.com, link below) which means, among other things, that we are committed to fair wages in the local context and have been checked out by the federation. The price of each piece is determined by a number of factors including the type and hardness of the stone, the difficulty of sculpting involved, the size of the piece, and in some cases, the artist's generation/position in the carving community. (This is particularly true in the case of unique pieces; a world-renowned sculptor will most likely command a larger price than his apprentice.)

How do the artists carve the stone? Why is the surface so shiny?

The artists chip, chisel, sand and then wet-sand each piece. (Before sandpaper, artists would use river sand and a rag in their hands to smooth out the pieces.) Then they place the piece around, or in some cases actually in, a fire. They finish by putting floor polish on the heated piece which sinks into the piece and brings out the natural colors of the stone and makes it shiny. They keep reapplying the floor wax (they use Cobra wax, I use Johnson paste wax) until the surface cools. Then they buff it with a cloth which makes it nice and shiny. A piece like the Natural Inscribed Dancers demonstrates the amount of work that goes into each piece because it shows both the natural stone on the outside and the smooth, carved stone on the inside.

Are the artists formally trained?

Most of the artists have no formal training, but they often learn as apprentices under a master sculptor. They begin by washing and polishing the master's pieces and then start working on small pieces of their own. Some of the artists work in cooperatives which is a fun site to see. They are so quick and sing and talk while they chip away.

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 in a number of galleries in the US, some of whom we have stocked ourselves. We work with many of the most renowned artists in Zimbabwe. 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.