Square Chikwanda (born 1972) is a

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

, living and working in

Harare, Zimbabwe Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metropolitan province. The city is situa ...

. He first learned his art from his father, also a Zimbabwean sculptor.

Short Biography

Born in

Mvurwi Mvurwi, originally known as Umvukwesi, is a town in Mashonaland Central province in Zimbabwe. Some of Mvurwi's schools include Holy Rosary Primary and Secondary School, Mvurwi Primary and High School and Umvukwesi Primary School which is one o ...

, Chikwanda moved to the Tengenenge Sculpture Community with his father at the age of seven. There his father taught him at an early age to wash and polish stone. He finished

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

and learned the art of sculpture to become a full-time artist at the age of thirteen, developing his own style. At the Community he had several students, of whom Jonathan Mhondorohuma became a good friend. In 1993 he left the community to work in

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

at the

Chapungu Sculpture Park The Chapungu Sculpture Park is a renowned cultural landmark and sculpture park, sculpture garden in Msasa, Harare, Zimbabwe, which displays the work of Zimbabwean stone sculptors. Spanning over 15 acres of landscaped gardens, the park is dedicat ...

. At this park, Chikwanda continued expanding his artistic know-how, which made him one of the leading Harare sculptors. , he works on his own in

Chitungwiza Chitungwiza is the third populous urban centre in Zimbabwe and town of Harare Province in Zimbabwe. It is located on the outskirts of Harare. History As of the 2022 census, Chitungwiza had a population of 371,244. There are two main highwa ...

, a Harare suburb. His work has been exhibited worldwide.

Style

Chikwanda's sculptures deal mostly with portraits and animals e.g. "Blind Portrait", Berlin, Germany or "Hippo", Tengenenge, Zimbabwe. His figures are generally very square and stylised : arms, legs and fingers are often square and show hard lines; noses have knife sharp edges. His sculptures remind indeed the art-deco figures of the 1930-1940 and are always polished to a high degree of perfection. He uses local Zimbabawean stone, including springstone.

Exhibitions

* Annual Heritage Exhibition, National Gallery, Harare, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1992, 1997. * Museum for Humour and Satire, Bucharest, Bulgaria, 1988. * National South-African Gallery, Overport, Durban, South Africa, 1991. * Master Sculptors Of Zimbabwe, Art Center an der Friedrichstrasse, Berlin, Germany, October – December 2006 * Mestres Escultors de Zimbabwe, Museo Comarcal, Montsia d'Amposta, Spain, 21 May-21 June 2009. * Master Sculptors Of Zimbabwe, Boserup Gallery, Boserupvej 100, Roskilde, Denmark, February 2010. * Master Sculptors Of Zimbabwe, Sanomatalo Building, Helsinki, Finland, March 2010. * Master Sculptors Of Zimbabwe, Friends For Ever Gallery, Friedrichstrasse 134, Berlin, Germany, May 2010.

Permanent Collections

* Museum of Tengenenge, Zimbabwe. * Chapungu Sculpture Park, Harare, Zimbabwe. * Africa Museum, Berg en Dal, The Netherlands. *

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

References

External links

Biographical sketchFriends for ever ZimbabweExhibition Catalogue Friedrichstrasse, Berlin, 2006Afrika Museum Berg en Daal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chikwanda, Square 1972 births Living people People from Mashonaland Central Province 20th-century Zimbabwean sculptors 21st-century sculptors