When we examine African Art, what we often find are works that are quite different to the “first world” art. In all art we find artists who challenge your ideas and concepts and your visions.

In African art, particularly the Shona art, there emerges different visions. There are a small number of Masters, men and women who explore their feelings and are able to express these feelings in their work. But the training for this work is quite different because there are no formal schools where they can be “trained”. Instead they work with skilled artists and explore their abilities and visions and originality. Of course there are many who achieve a “copy” set of skills, and can make copy-images, but this is all they can do. Ideal for the tourist trade, but this is not the depth of creativity that we look for in the talented artists.

We have, and do, explore the creativity of Shona carvings, which requires us to develop an understanding of the artist and their expressions. Our view is “the spirit of the stone and the soul of the artist”. When these come together then we find exceptional expression and delight in the carvings. Because this is created from natural stone, we also examine the material used and the inherent quality in the result.

The stone ranges from soft to hard, common to rare. In Southern Africa we have some of the oldest rock formations in the world, recognised by geologists, but rarely by others. The stone is varied, and some types are unique in colour and quality, whilst others are common. Amongst the common stones are “Soap Stone”  often called “Rapoko”, a very soft stone that can easily deteriorate with exposure to air - easy to carve but equally easy to damage and bruise.

Hard stone require great talent and experience to work with, such as Springstone and  Verdite. Using these raw stones requires confidence as well as talent and years of skills, but the results can be astounding. When the artist works with stone it can reveal features that need to become part of the finished product, and the artist has to change the vision during the evolution of his work. What emerges, this fantastic combination of the Spirit of the Stone and the Soul of the Artist, is originality and uniqueness.

Picasso displayed Shona carving in Paris in the late 1960’s. I discussed this with many Shona Masters, but the name Picasso means nothing to them – so when I see Shona carvings that are similar to Picasso art, I debate who discovered what and who influenced who. Original Art is the only conclusion I can reach.