Library Weekly

The ASCL's Library Weekly is our library’s weekly spotlight on African people and events. Inspired by the SciHiBlog, this service is based on information retrieved from Wikipedia and Wikidata and is completed with selected titles from the ASCL Library Catalogue.

N.B. The weeklies are not updated and reflect the state of information at a given point in time.

Library Weekly archive

Henry Munyaradzi

Henry Munyaradzi (Wikimedia Commons, Nicholas Prichard, CFAG, 31 High Street, Eton, SL4 1HL, UK, CC BY-SA 3.0) In 1998*, Zimbabwean sculptor Henry Munyaradzi died at the age of 66-67. Known simply as “Henry”, Munyaradzi is one of the best-known artist in the Zimbabwean sculpture movement. His works are represented in numerous notable collections, including the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, the Chapungu Sculpture Park, the Museum fur Völkerkunde, Frankfurt, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and the British Museum.

Henry was born in Guruve, northern Zimbabwe, in 1931. He was brought up by his uncle, Edward Chiwawa, who was a local carpenter; he never attended school. His education was practical and first-hand. Eventually he became village blacksmith, and also worked as a carpenter and tobacco grader.

Seeking employment in 1967, he stumbled across the Tengenege Sculptors’ Community set up by Tom Blomefield, who according to his profile of Henry suggested he work alone rather than be influenced by the other sculptors. Given Henry’s knowledge of woodwork and metal forging, he quickly learned the skills of a sculptor in stone, remaining largely self-taught for his entire career. Henry left the Community to work on his own in 1975.

Zimbabwean stamp, 1983 Henry’s work formed part of several seminal exhibitions during the 1960s-1970s, including at the Musée Rodin (Paris) and the Institute of Contemporary Arts (London). He also had eight solo exhibitions. From 1985 until his death, Henry lived and worked at his farm in Ruwa.

One of Henry's works, called Wing Woman, was depicted on a Zimbabwean stamp issued to commemorate Commonwealth Day on 14 March 1983. It formed the 9c value in a set completed with works by Joseph Ndandarika, John Takawira and Nicholas Mukomberanwa. The stamp carries the name “Henry Mudzengerere”! Another, called Spirit Python was the 30c value in a set issued on 14 April 1988 to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the opening of the National Gallery.

(Source: English Wikipedia; *sources differ regarding his date of death: 27 Feb. / 27 Jul. 1998)

For examples of his work see for example: the British Museum