Tuzvipuka: An exhibition not to be missed

Desperate to support his family and preserve his lifestyle, he brainstormed for 24 hours, and came up with an idea for a novel, which would be called The Horse Whisperer. This became a bestseller in 1995, and was made into a film starring Robert Redford. Fame and fortune followed, and Evans’ reputation was established.
Victor Nyakauru, now an award-winning artist and sculptor, found himself in a similar situation in 2005, when he was working for Dorking Dairy as a sales merchandiser. Based in Borrowdale, Nyakauru was familiar with every aspect of his job, from cleaning bottles and stacking the shelves with top quality milk and yoghurt products, to educating the public about the benefits of drinking milk. But as the land invasions gathered momentum, milk supplies dwindled, and Nyakauru’s working week was reduced to a two-day stint. Now it was Nyakauru’s turn to brainstorm.
Given his ancestry and background, Nyakauru was likely to make a good decision. Shato Nyakauru, Victor’s grandfather, was a firebrand in township politics. In 1938 he founded the Waiters and Caterers Union, and in 1946, in the shade of the ndaba tree on the outskirts of Mbare, he and Jasper Savanhu addressed captive audiences on the subjects of democracy and human rights. Waving his signature bull tail flywhisk, Shato exhorted all employees and professionals to unite and to form a new trade union.
Clearly, taking the chicken run south would never be an option for Nyakauru. Having enjoyed art while studying for his O-levels at Zengeza High School, he decided to enrol at the National Gallery Visual Art Studio, emerging in 2007 with an A-level certificate in Art. In 2008, Nyakauru hit the ground running, making off with a coveted NAMA award, followed by a one-man show, Insects/Tumbuyu, at the National Gallery in Mutare.
Earlier this year, Nyakauru was invited to visit China on a cultural exchange. He spent three months in Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province, experimenting with local Chinese stone and producing large sculptures. Although there was no sadza on the menu during his stay, Nyakauru developed a taste for noodles and Chinese specialities and quickly learned to eat with chopsticks.
Back in Harare, Nyakauru put the finishing touches to another one-man show, Creatures/Tuzvipuka, which opened in Harare’s National Gallery earlier this month.
I happened upon this exhibition by chance, after spending a pleasant hour admiring the Allied Arts Children’s Exhibition. Meandering into the adjoining PG Gallery I looked around in a desultory fashion. A nano second later, jolted out of my reverie, I focused on the first of Nyakauru’s sculptures, and my heart skipped a beat.
Some larger than life, others smaller, Nyakauru’s creatures are fashioned from wood, stone, bone and metal. Although they appear to be silent and frozen in mid-flight or on the run, the different sounds they make with their body language and attitudes are deafening. It is hardly surprising that in Shona folklore these characters play such important roles.
“Berejena”, the white hyena, stands in front of the plate glass window of the gallery, poised for flight. Something has caught her attention and the sightless eyes in her face fashioned from a skull, gaze piercingly over her shoulder. Her metal ears are pricked up to catch the slightest sound, and her metal whisk of a tail flicks eloquently before she finally turns to disappear behind the Jacaranda trees in Harare Gardens.
In myth and legend, the hyena is the chosen steed of witches who fly from province to province and from house to house on dark nights.
The undulating and muscular haunches and shoulders of “Imbwa Nyoro”, a large guard dog, are carved from dark, polished, black wood. As his loud bark warns off intruders, his lower metal jaw opens to reveal sabre like teeth. His powerful front legs and paws are metal rivets and a partial metal collar around his neck suggests that he needs to be restrained and kept under control.
In some cultures, the dog is portrayed as man’s best friend, but Nyakauru’s Imbwa typifies “the bad guy, who pretends to be good, but gets up to mischief behind closed doors”.
“Cholera”, a giant fly with its polished stone head and powerful metal wings, alights on a pedestal next to the stairwell leading down to the gallery restaurant. I’m reminded of last year’s rainy season and the scourge of cholera, and it doesn’t help that something has been spilt on the stove downstairs, and the smell of burnt food has drifted up into the gallery.
“Tsuro Kanga”, perhaps the wisest and most agile creature in the Shona bestiary, stands erect on a pedestal, his head inclined in a friendly and communicative way. He speaks in soft, friendly tones, metal paws outstretched to illustrate a point. Although carved from stone, his body is soft and rounded.
Nyakauru, a keen environmentalist, is currently working on large sculptures of wild animals, for an ambitious exhibition in 2012. Given his keen insight into the inner lives and characters of insects and creatures, Nyakauru’s exhibition and portrayal of the Big Five will be an event not to be missed.