Current Release: April 28th, 2009 | Vol. XXX Iss. 10

Photo By Rachel Alexander

Local exhibit from Zimbabwe brings life out of stone

By Rachel Alexander

rjalexander@vwc.edu

At the Norfolk Botanical Gardens the Zimbabwe statue exhibit, Mutambo, will be on display from June 15 to Oct. 12. The statues hold a mysterious abstract beauty, and the work of the artists is clearly displayed in these many stone carvings that are displayed both on the paths through the gardens themselves, and the inside of the visitor s center.

It is said that Picasso was inspired by this sort of artwork and it is not surprising that it would be so. Poetry students at VWC were inspired by varied lines, textures, and the shapes that were used to give some of the statues an unearthly appeal.

 I thought that they were amazing. I liked the flow of the stone and the different textures that the artists could bring out. It reminded me of seeing Africa again and what I saw in Ghana, said senior Lauren Perry.

The statues were often abstract with an unfinished appeal to them, but that was part of the exquisiteness of the artists work. A person s mind would complete their own picture of what the statues of the Mutambo exhibit were supposed to suggest to them.

Some of the statues were merely heads, others were tall women coming out of the stone, and there was an elephant that really wasn t heavy at all, haped half of stone and half of the raw energy in open space that was absence in the carving.

 Beauty and the simplicity in life was what the exhibit was about. The statues were the main attraction, but there was just as much interest in about where they were placed and what surrounded them, said VWC s Lena Jonson.

And one must wonder about the artists themselves, because part of the exhibit mentions that the artists believe part of their own souls  fly free as they are creating these works of art.

Mutambo translates into  celebration in English, means more than just a visual work of art. Here it means to celebrate the creativity of the soul, and the complete incompleteness of life.

 Part of the challenge is trying to describe how fluid the stone is or even the lines. Its great just to take students out there and expose them to art, said Professor Vivian Teter.

Mutambo is worth the visit whether you are a poet or just looking for something interesting to pass the time. The statues are interesting, because when people look at the statues, they aren t just looking at a statue but how to create a description of what they see and what cannot be explained with a simple label or a single word.