Through out Africa, stone and wood carvers have long created effigies of animals and people to sell or trade with visitors.  These carvings are often of animals or totems representing a cultural tradition.  In the 1950s modern sculpture from Europe was introduced into what was then Southern Rhodesia.  The director of the national museum started to hold workshops and classes that taught technique, and he encouraged the local people who were mostly from the Shona tribe to blend the techniques from class with their own spirit and ideas.  The result has been one of the major success stories of African Art - Shona Sculptures.

The quality of stone carving in Zimbabwe is tremendous.  Artists can create life like images of small animals or abstracts that are pleasing and intrigue the eye.  Most artists work in small groups or cooperatives.  This allows them to buy and sell at a better rate.  The majority of artists live comfortably from their efforts, have families, and are very wonderful people.  They are proud of their skills and full of imagination as they look at each stone, seeing deeply into the spirit of the Earth to extract the shapes hidden to all, until their skilled hands chip away the covers.

Shona sculptures can be found in museums and palaces of the world as art treasures.  They are highly prized possessions as each is unique and most are quite beautiful.  Carved from the local serpentine stone (sometimes called Shona Stone locally) and other rocks found in the area each has its own coloration and shading.  The serpentine stone is a sedimentary rock that formed on ancient sea beds.  Layers of sand, silt, and other materials created a stone that is rich in colors when heated and polished.  The colors will range from red to green to brown to black.

The land now known as Zimbabwe has gone through many transitions since the 1950s.  The emotions and spirit of the people can be felt in the art work.  A deep reverence for the Earth with an aesthetic eye towards to the simple beauty of the natural.

Why do we have Shona art available at Eclipse-Chasers.Com?  First off, let me say that we are very fortunate to be able to provide these wonderful treasures to you.  It all comes as a result of visiting Zimbabwe several times and meeting the right people.  We didn't set out on this course, but found it as a result of the paths we travel.  During previous eclipse expeditions we have always looked for local art depicting the eclipse (or at least T-shirts!).  Some cultures already have symbolic representations of eclipses while others have only what they see in their hearts.  Such was the case with Zimbabwe.  During our first visit for the eclipse of 2001 we only encountered a few shirts and printed information about the eclipse.

As we prepared for our second journey to Zimbabwe in 2002 for the eclipse we were able make prior arrangements for Shona sculptures to be created based on the previous year's eclipse.  This was the result of an effort by Elliot Nobula, who had been our guide on the previous safari.  Elliot had not seen totality in 2001 as our group headed into Zambia to view it.  He was in Victoria Falls and did see a partial eclipse of over 95%.  From that came the combination of the ancient San cave painting style rendition of the eclipse event.  A classic African combination of the very old with the new.

For the eclipse of 2002 Elliot was able to see totality with his family in the area of Plum Tree.  The dazzling display of the eclipse is enough to capture the imagination of almost anyone.  As the Sun fades out and darkness covers the land his eyes were not only on the corona and sky.  Elliot is an expert ecologist and safari guide.  He knows the land, the plants, and animals like friends.  And he was able observe the behavior of many of these animals from his observing site; with his wife Mary and two children.

Based on what he saw, he spoke to the master carver Charles Kudzunga of Harare.  Charles operates a small cooperative of 10 artists who then listened to Elliot describe the eclipse and the reactions of the animals.  Using the same San cave painting style to represent the eclipse they combined figures of the animals to create a series of fantastic sculptures that we can offer to you!  Several of the artists elected to show the national pride of Zimbabwe along with the eclipse.  The sculptures show the Great Zimbabwe or the rocks of the Matopos Hills, national icons of Zimbabwe.  Chief Sculpture Kudzunga then selected the best work to be shipped to the Eclipse-Chasers.  The sculptures we are showing at Eclipse-Chasers.Com are currently in the USA and immediately available.  As they are purchased more sculptures will be displayed and more ordered from the artists.  Each is unique and captures a bit of the spirit of Zimbabwe as presented by the talented Shona artists

It is lucky that we met Elliot, that he knew Charles, that we can use the Internet to communicate across the long distances.  And then bring you these fabulous pieces that eclipse chasers can cherish as treasures from a wonderful land.