Missouri Botanical Garden - CHAPUNGU nature, man, and myth

Voice: Royal Katiyo, Chapungu Artist

My name is Royal Katiyo. I'm an artist from Zimbabwe. I learned to sculpt from a friend by the name of Luke Mgavazi. That was in 1992, after my school. I joined Chapungu in 1994. Chapungu invited me to work with them as a resident artist.

Mostly I want to sculpt quails. I like these birds, it is my favorite. These birds, I used to hate them when I grew up because they'd come to our fields and eat our seeds after we plant our seeds. But now, I like them because it's easier for me when I look at the stone to decide what to make.

I'd like people to know about my work that we should conserve nature because these birds are part of nature and part of our life.

Voice: Nicolas Kadsungura, Chapungu Artist

My name is Nicholas Kadzungura. I'm an artist from Zimbabwe. I started sculpting in 1987 under the guidance of Dominic Benhura, one of our first generation artists in Zimbabwe. Ten years later, I went to Chapungu Sculpture Park when I was invited as a resident artists.

I always like to sculpt people, especially the groups: Teaching Mother to Read, Innocent Victim of Political Violence, and also Sole Proud of My Children. On Teaching Mother to Read, this sculpture is right here in this exhibit. There is long story about it. When Zimbabwe was under the British rule, the elders didn't have the chance to go to school. Now, the children have the chance to go to school and they come back teaching their parents to read and their parents become very proud of their children.

And also I did one which I call Innocent Victim of Political Violence. That I want people to unite and lets not fight.

Voice: Dr. Peter H. Raven, President

Welcome to the Missouri Botanical Garden and to our exhibition

"Chapungu: Nature, Man, and Myth." I'm Dr. Peter Raven, president

of the Garden.

Use this cell phone commentary to learn a little more about

these sculptors and their art, which come to us from the African

nation of Zimbabwe.

I've been captivated by the beauty and interest of these Chapungu

stone sculptures since I first saw them in 1989 at the world class

Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden in Cape Town, South Africa.

In 2001, our Garden presented a major exhibition by Zimbabwe's

Chapungu Sculpture Park artists. Two of the sculptures from that

time have become an important part of our permanent collection.

They are in our azalea-rhododendron dell, near the tram shelter.

The Chapungu art expresses feelings and experiences representative

of life in Zimbabwe but at the same time is common to all people,

no matter what your cultural heritage may be.

We're privileged to host this new exhibition of stone sculpture,

enhanced by the natural setting of our beautiful garden. We're also

delighted to host many of the artists who will be in residence here

throughout the summer, giving workshops and demonstrations.

At the end of this audio commentary, listen for the prompt that allows

you to tell us your thoughts. Your comments are very important to us.

Thanks for visiting and enjoy the Garden!

Voice: Roy Guthrie, Director of Chapungu Sculpture Park

My name is Roy Guthrie. I'm a director of the Chapungu Sculpture

Park. It is wonderful to return to the Missouri Botanical Garden,

where many of our artists displayed their work for the first time in

America in 2001.

Stone sculpture is the art medium that most represents the people

of Zimbabwe. Many of our artists are from the Shona tribe. There

are a few from the Ndebele tribe also.

Chapungu artists communicate in various forms of stone to

combine contemporary art and themes with their ancient cultural

heritage. With great skill and imagination, they convey the

relationship between the two guiding forces of the physical world

and the spiritual world.

This exhibition is grouped in three themes. Man and Nature, Man

and Family, and Man and Myth.

And the first theme that you'll come to is Man and Myth. These

pieces are located between the Ridgway Center there and the

Climatron, along the magnolia walk. The sculptures here represent

ancestral spirits, totem animals, creatures of legend, and the great

Chapungu Bird as a protector and guiding spirit.

The second theme that you'll come to beyond the Climatron is

nature itself. And here you'll find many depictions of animals

which are dear to the artists, which they feel strongly about.

One particularly moving piece is "Young Giraffe Playing" and it's

moving because the artist is depicting a time fifty years ahead

when those animals will no longer exist in Zimbabwe and he's

almost warning people to protect these animals. So you'll see

themes of that nature and other themes relating to the ecology

and the animals struggle to survive in the situation today.

The third theme is all about family and you'll see some remarkable

themes here from an aunt admonishing a young child; to the

Muroora, the daughters-in-law bringing beer for a wedding for a

celebration that's going to happen; through to a group of sisters

meeting after a long period and discussing family affairs-a rather

moving section of the exhibition.

Well, there is a sales component to the whole exhibition and that is in

the Brookings Center behind the Climatron and here you'll find work

by very famous artists, many of them have passes on already, really

collectors' items. But also, work by unacknowledged artists and then

those group of people in between who are striving to get a name for

themselves and who are becoming well-known now also.

Voice: Roy Guthrie

Zimbabwe is a subtropical African country located in the southern

central part of Africa, slightly above South Africa, below Zambia,

to the west of Mozambique, and to the east of Angola. And it is a

country which is subtropical, as I've said; it's on a plateau about

4,500 feet up. It has a wonderful climate with a long 7 months of

winter, but beautiful weather during that time. And it is home to

some of the great wonders of the world, like Victoria Falls which

is acknowledged everywhere, and the Zimbabwe ruins and has

been home to some of the great natural animals-the elephants,

and the lions and all the great African animals. But, it is also home

to one of the finest people in the world-the Shona people and

the Ndebele people. And now acknowledged for its great stone

sculpture, probably-I always say the politicians will disappear but

the sculpture will be renowned for hundreds of years. And so, yes

it is a wonderful small African country.

Voice: Roy Guthrie

The word "Chapungu" is the Shona word for the Bateleur eagle.

It's an eagle which still exists in Africa in many of the low lying

areas and we find it in Zimbabwe along the Zambezi valley and the

Limpopo valley.

For the Shona people it's a mythical bird, it's a protecting bird, it's

a spirit bird, it's a bird which the Shona revere and depict over and

over again in their sculptures. So, its a very important omen much

like the Native Americans revere the bald eagle in Africa and in

Zimbabwe we revere the Bateleur eagle, the Chapungu.

Voice: Roy Guthrie

The exhibit comes over in containers and the pieces are packed

individually into large crates, wooden crates, and when they travel

over the water, over the sea, they come across in containers. But

once they are in the country, they're moved around from exhibition

to exhibition on great big flatbeds still in their crates.

Most pieces weigh between 1,000 pounds and 8,000 pounds and

in height they range between about 3 feet and 10 to 11 feet.

We install the pieces in botanical gardens on logs and we use

forklifts and cranes depending on the size. If we go onto lawns

we put down mats and we run the forklift onto the mats and we

place them on logs. Logs are not cut down trees; they are trees

which are storm damaged. We place the log and then we pin the

sculpture to the log and we like logs because they are very organic

and the sculpture is organic and it looks great on logs. So we

normally use logs in terms of the bases and also the sculpture

doesn't need polished surfaces and fancy bases to enhance it,

it speaks for itself.

Voice: Roy Guthrie

All of the stone comes from Zimbabwe. When we first started

the sculpture movement 50 years ago we couldn't find stone.

But today, there is stone found all over the country and stones

of great beauty and different strengths and different hardnesses.

So it ranges from the springstone, which is very hard serpentine,

to the opal stone, which is a softer green serpentine, through to

granites and dolomites and marbles and limestones and then some

very unique stones like verdite, which is probably the rarest of the

3 great green stones; jade, malachite and verdite. Verdite is only

found in 2 deposits in the world and the highest quality verdite

comes from Zimbabwe.

So, the artists have used all of these different stones. The best artists

prefer the hardest stones and so they don't work in the soft soap

stones and soft serpentines, but use only the harder stones. But we

are rich in stone; we have beautiful stones throughout the country.

Voice: Ann Walker

I'm Anne Walker, the Garden's Chapungu Exhibition Outreach

Liaison. Join us for Chapungu Nights every Thursday evening now

through September. Spend a summer evening in the Garden seeing

the sculptures from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. You can take a self-guided

walking tour, watch the artists at work on Linnean Plaza, and enjoy

cocktails and entertainment on Spoehrer Plaza. Dine outside on

the patio of the Sassafras Café where some special African recipes

will be on the menu. The Fountain Grill will serve hotdogs and

hamburgers. Admission to Chapungu Nights is $10.00 or $5.00 for

Garden members-food and drinks cost extra.

You might like to create your own original sculpture at one of

our artist workshops this summer. No experience is required and

artists and residents from the Chapungu Sculpture Park will guide

you during informal 5 day classes, held Tuesday through Saturday,

under a tent on Linnean Plaza. The workshop costs $500, however

membership does have its privileges-Garden members receive a

discount. The fee includes a stone from Zimbabwe, a set of tools

that you may keep, and personal instructions by a Shona artist.

For more details about Chapungu Nights and Artists Workshops

visit our website at www.mobot.org.

Voice: Gedeon Nyanhongo, Chapungu Artist

I am Gedeon Nyanhongo. I come from a family of well-known

Zimbabwean sculptors, including my sister Agnes and my

father Claude. When I first started sculpting, I went with one of

Zimbabwe's most critically acclaimed artists, Joseph Ndandarika,

for three years. His guidance and influence gave me the confidence

to follow my own path as an artist. In 1994, I was chosen to

participate in the Chapungu artist resident program for

a year. My work portrays the ever changing aspects of my culture.

My work must mark the stages of my life. It also records the

important stages of life around me.

I use the hardest, most durable stones so that people will be

able to understand these things in the years to come. My art is

inspired by human relationships, especially those among families.

My subjects are full of spirit. My sculptures speak tenderly of

parenthood, protection, innocence and human love. They also

represent traditional Shona themes of spiritual guidance and

direction, as in -Chapungu Protecting Family.-