Written in stones that are hundreds of years old and native to Zimbabwe, a country in southern Africa, Shona sculptures are tales in stone carved completely by hand with no electrical tools. With more than 200 natural color and texture variations and powerful history, these stones have stories to be told that the sculptors help them tell.
The tradition of working in stone dates back hundreds of years, but only manifested itself into the form seen today in the 1950s and 60s. Now in the third generation of both men and women sculptors, the artists draw on images their most cherished traditions. Their sculptures are the deepest expression of the world in which the artists now live and the culture from which they came. The art continues to evolve as the artists travel and share their work abroad, infuencing those they meet and in turn being influenced by the world around them.