Culture of Zimbabwe - Arts

Arts

Traditional arts in Zimbabwe include pottery, basketry, textiles, jewelry, and carving. Among the distinctive qualities are symmetrically patterned woven baskets and stools carved out of a single piece of wood. Shona sculpture in essence has been a fusion of African folkore with European influences. Also, a recurring theme in Zimbabwean art is the metamorphosis of man into beast.

Among members of the white minority community, theatre has a large following, with numerous theatrical companies performing in Zimbabwe's urban areas.

Though the country's art is admired by those that know of its existence, several Zimbabwean artists have managed to gain a world audience, to name some world-famous Zimbabwean sculptors, we have Nicholas, Nesbert and Anderson Mukomberanwa, Tapfuma Gutsa, Henry Muyradzi, and Locardia Ndandarika. Internationally Zimbabwean sculptors have managed to influence a new generation of artists, particularly Black Americans, through lengthy apprenticeships with master sculptors in Zimbabwe. Contemporary artists like New York sculptor M. Scott Johnson and California sculptor Russel Albans have learned to fuse both African and Afro-diasporic aesthetics in a way that travels beyond the simplistic mimicry of African Art by some Black artists of past generations in the United States.