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Colleen is a staff member at the Mission Office. She is the Website Editor and the Coordinator for the Holy Childhood Association.
For all of my fellow arts-and-culture friends out there that are looking for something fun, relaxing, and educational to do, I have a terrific exhibit to tell you about! I recently spent a day at the Missouri Botanical Gardens, where I saw their latest art exhibit, “Chapungu: Nature, Man, and Myth.” Chapungu is a display of sculptures created by the Shona people of Zimbabwe, Africa. Each one is carved out of different materials and tells a different story about the Zimbabwean culture. Being very aware of the different countries around the world that we at the Mission Office help, I thought that it would be interesting to take my experience of viewing the Chapungu exhibit and connect it to learning more about nature, man, and myth in Zimbabwe!
I didn’t know anything about Zimbabwe before seeing Chapungu and doing a little bit of research for my blog. I knew that it was a country in Africa - that’s about it! Seeing the beautiful, ornate sculptures by the various Chapungu artists at the garden was my first introduction to anything related to Zimbabwe. The large sculptures found outdoors ranged from animals (horses, giraffes, and other wildlife) to people (men, women, children, and families) to a combination of both (humans transforming into beasts). I could see that many long hours of hard work and skill must have been put into every carving. Reading the plaques below each one, which listed the artist’s name, the title of the artwork, and a short quote or explanation, brought the sculptures to life and made me realize that although Zimbabwe is halfway across the world, there are real people there with real stories - which they so beautifully tell through their Chapungu artwork.
I decided to do a bit of research on the geological, political, cultural, and religious side of Zimbabwe, hoping that perhaps it would help me to better understand the sculptures I saw at the garden. I love artwork, and whenever I happen to see a piece or two (or about twenty in this case!) that I like, I’m always interested to go on and find out more about the country or the background of the artwork. Here is what I discovered…
Geologically: Zimbabwe is a landlocked country in southern Africa and is bordered by South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, and Mozambique. Mountains, rivers, waterfalls (the famous Victoria Falls), and a huge rift of ridges, hills, and mineral deposits are some of the most defining geographical features of the Zimbabwe landscape. In fact, the name Zimbabwe derives from a term referring to nature - “Zimba Remabwe” - which means “Big House of Stone” in the Shona language. I realized that the Chapungu artists used all of these features of their land to express the natural aspect of the country in their artwork. They even used the actual materials found in their homeland for their sculptures - especially the stone varieties found right there in their own “Big House of Stone.” Stone varieties such as serpentine, springstone, opal stone, limestone, and cobalt mimic the landscape (whether it is smooth like a river, rough like a mountain, or ridged like a mineral deposit). The artists blended the stones’ radiant shades of black, brown, amber, gray, and green with the figures in their sculptures - uniting their natural surroundings with their artwork.
Politically: Zimbabwe has a parliamentary government. Although there are two chambers (the Senate and the House of the Assembly), one party has won every election since 1980. Robert Mugabe, the former Prime Minister since 1980, made himself President in 1987, and it is his party that has won every election. Mugabe is highly criticized for his ongoing regime of political and economic downfalls, including corruption and rigging of elections, suppression of political opponents and free speech, mishandling of land reform, and the deterioration of human rights - even alleged torture, genocide, and ethnic-cleansing. I remember one particular Chapungu sculpture whose theme may have revolved around these political, economic, and human rights issues, now that I think back on it. The sculpture was a large, strong baboon holding tightly onto a small baby. The title of the carving was to the effect of “the great baboon takes the farmer’s child.” When I first saw it, the possibilities of the meaning behind the sculpture hit me. Why would this baboon take the baby? Why would it choose to take a farmer’s child? Why is it holding on so tightly? I might have been the only one who looked so deeply into a simple carving of a baboon and a baby, but I think that it was somehow interpreting the current political and economic state in Zimbabwe. Perhaps the baboon was the government, the farmer was the economy, and the child was the Zimbabwean people. Perhaps the baboon chose to take the farmer’s child to gain control over the farmer and the child itself. There are probably a hundred interpretations of this particular sculpture, and maybe mine is way off, but something about the strong, mean-looking animal stealing an innocent baby, specifically a farmer’s baby, made me stop and think.
Culturally: English is the official language of Zimbabwe, although only less than 2.5% actually consider it their native language. The majority of the population speaks Shona (76%) and Ndebele (18%). The Shona, of course, are the people that create the Chapungu artwork. In fact, one of the most traditional arts in Zimbabwe is sculpting and carving. As I learned at the Chapungu exhibit, Shona sculptures in particular are often carved out of a single block of material, and display a combination of African folklore and European influences. The name itself - Chapungu - is a metaphor for the Bateleur eagle, a bird found in Africa that can fly up to 300 miles in one day at 30 to 50 miles per hour. The Shona believe that the Chapungu brings protection and good fortune, and even named their carvings after it. One sculpture in particular, called “Chief Consults With Chapungu,” shows the respect and honor that the Shona have for the Chapungu. Another common theme in the artwork is the metamorphosis of man into beast. The Chapungu exhibit at the garden also included sculptures that reflected this subject matter.
Religiously: There are various forms of religious practice in Zimbabwe. Christianity, Islam, and traditional ancestral worship (non-Christian) are the most highly practiced religions. Christians comprise 40% to 50% of the population, Catholics comprise 7% to 10%, and Muslims comprise about 1% - the rest are of the ancestral tradition. In regards to Catholicism, there are two archdioceses in Zimbabwe - Harare and Bulawayo - and six dioceses - Chinhoyi, Gokwe, Mutare, Gweru, Hwange, and Masvingo. One of the most famous Catholic religious figures in Zimbabwe is Pius Ncube, the archbishop of Bulawayo. Ncube is known as being a human rights activist (he has received a Human Rights Award from Human Rights First) and a critic of Robert Mugabe, the President of Zimbabwe, who I mentioned above. Ncube has spoken out against Mugabe’s regime of torture and corruption.
After doing a little bit of research and learning a little more about Zimbabwe, its culture, and its people, I think that I’ve gained an even better appreciation for the Chapungu sculptures. Seeing the sculptures alone was pretty cool, but looking back on them with knowledge and background about the country makes them even more interesting. I’ve realized that even though the Zimbabweans are from another country and another culture, they are people just like us. They have real emotions and real experiences that I can understand and relate to, or at least have empathy for. The Chapungu exhibit is a beautiful illustration of the Zimbabwean culture, and I hope that my blog and stroll through the garden has inspired you to take your own trip to Zimbabwe through “Chapungu: Nature, Man, and Myth”!
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