Zimbabwe

Joram Mariga- A tribute (1927-2000)

 _{By Martin Chemhere, Harare}

_{The National Gallery of Zimbabwe recently hosted the second in a series of tribute shows featuring the pioneers of the contemporary stone sculpture movement in Zimbabwe.}

_{The first in this series focused on late artists, sculptor John Takawira and painter Marshall Baron who between them contributed immensely to the visual art movement of the country?}

_{Regarded as the founding father of Zimbabwean stone sculpture, Joram Mariga left an artistic legacy, which has had a far-reaching bearing on the way the art form is viewed at home and abroad. This assertion is well known and believed by many followers of the Zimbabwean art.}

_{The tribute showcased about 12 works which once more afforded the sculpture lover with the late artist’s approaches such as his finishing or polishing of works in which he left the entire pieces in their natural state.}

_{Mariga would often chisel a stone’s part to affect a certain feel or image that left a lasting allure. Usually dealing in animal kingdom images such as “Baboons”, his trademark finishing became international recognized and many of his collectors soon found out how to detect “a Mariga piece” in a group exhibition.}

_{In this regard sculpture followers view Mariga as the first to bring “the contemporary works of art to the attention of leading art connoisseurs around the world”.}

_{The exhibition attempts to provide some light into the resultant development of both the men and his work. The works in the show indicate that Mariga’s early pieces are not much different from those from his later days, only changing a bit of the facial styles, rendering the finishing a finer detail. In total his imagery was simple.}

_{University of Zimbabwe’s Art Department Lecturer Michios Musiyiwa described Mariga’s work as follows: “If there is anything that mystifies and makes Joram Mariga’s art difficult to comprehend, it is simplistic style and close association with nature, particularly the animal wound. Natural aesthetic seems to dominate the artist’s sculpture giving it its major characteristic feature”.}

_{It seems the fact that Mariga never changed much from his earlier styles strongly suggested his desires to remain unchallenged by the forces of creative commercialism, instead creating art for art’s sake.}

_{Mariga was and is still widely quoted as having said that the advent of stone sculpture was more vital as an awakening of a people’s cultural power than the money it brought to its markers. The late veteran artist was made to preserve the ways of his people rather than enrich his pockets. His work worked as a proclamation to evoke certain cultural and religious beliefs, a characteristic he maintained until his death.}

_{“We are not sculpting for commercial reasons only for history and future generations. We are sculpting to give _expression to our culture, to keep that culture alive in years when it may well become forgotten”, he once commented.}

_{This work ethnic pervaded many of the peers and other younger artists whom he later taught, influenced or encouraged to sculpt, among them legends like the late John Takawira, the late Bernard Manyandure, Claude Nyanhongo, Sylvester Mubayi, Daniel Manhuhwa, the late Moses Masaya and the late Kingsley Sambo.}                                  

_ENDS