Chapungu Sculpture Park

The Chapungu Sculpture Park is a special garden filled with sculptures in Msasa, Harare, Zimbabwe. It shows beautiful works made by artists from Zimbabwe who use stone to create their art. The park covers more than 15 acres of lovely gardens, all set up to honor and display the rich tradition of African stone sculpture. Visitors can walk through the peaceful grounds and enjoy the creativity and skill of the sculptors.

History

Chapungu Sculpture Park was started in 1970 by Roy Guthrie, who named it Gallery Shona Sculpture. Guthrie helped show the work of Zimbabwean sculptors to people all over the world. Because of his work, many exhibitions were held. One famous exhibition was called Chapungu: Custom and Legend — A Culture in Stone. This show traveled to beautiful gardens in many places.

The exhibition visited places such as:

• (1999) Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, Cape Town, South Africa
• (2000) Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, London, United Kingdom,
• (2001) Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis, USA
• (2001) Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park, Superior, USA
• (2002) Red Butte Garden and Arboretum, Salt Lake City, USA
• (2003) Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago, USA
• (2003) Chicago Botanic Garden, Chicago USA
• (2004) Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver, USA

Artists

The Chapungu Sculpture Park shows beautiful stone sculptures made by many talented artists from Zimbabwe. Some of the artists you can see there include Dominic Benhura, Crispen Chakanyuka, Square Chikwanda, Sanwell Chirume, Stanford Derere, Arthur Fata, Barankinya Gotsa, Tapfuma Gutsa, Makina Kameya, Biggie Kapeta, Colleen Madamombe, Joram Mariga, Eddie Masaya, Moses Masaya, Bernard Matemera, Boira Mteki, Sylvester Mubayi, Thomas Mukarobgwa, Nicholas Mukomberanwa, Henry Munyaradzi, Joseph Muzondo, Joseph Ndandarika, Locardia Ndandarika, Agnes Nyanhongo, Gedion Nyanhongo, Amos Supuni, Bernard Takawira, and John Takawira.

Chapungu Sculpture Center

The park has a special place called the Chapungu Sculpture Centre. It has a residency program where young artists can learn from experienced sculptors. The HAYA Cooperative, a group of artists at Chapungu, also helps make the park a lively place for art.

Expansion

In 2007, the Chapungu Sculpture Park grew by opening a new park and gallery in Loveland, Colorado. This let more people see the beautiful stone sculptures from Zimbabwean artists.