Gift Chengu, „Mixed Mother Animal“, 1990
|
Gift Chengu
Chengu has been working since 1987 as a freelance sculptor. Most of his life data are unknown but he is well known as the creator of the monumental sculpture "Chapungu" (the national bird of Zimbabwe) in the artists’ colony Tengenenge
Founder of the sculptor cooperative "Zvirimudombo"
Participant in the Annual Exhibitions at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe
For his sculptures, Gift Chengu prefers to work in serpentinite of a relatively low hardness and modulated structure. His best-known sculpture is the nearly 2m (6ft 6in)-tall Chapungu bird, which welcomes visitors at the entrance of the Tengenenge artists’ colony and which, according to Shona tradition, offers protection and good fortune. This symbol hewn in rock also exemplifies Chengu’s preference for the sensuous materiality of stone and his ability to uncover an emotional level of communication between animals and human beings.