Guthrie’s legacy etched in stone

Roy Guthrie, who passed away on March 5 this year, will be remembered not only as a significant figure in Zimbabwean stone sculpture, or as the founder and director of the Chapungu Sculpture Park, but also as a passionate tree planter.

He dreamed of planting a thousand trees along the road connecting Harare and Bulawayo. As a seed collector, Guthrie was aware of the medicinal values ​​and healing properties of native trees and what they represented in Shona culture.

In addition to encouraging and mentoring artists, he also taught them the value of planting trees in their homes and work spaces.

In an interview with IndependentXtra, several of the resident artists at the sculpture park, including Nicholas Kadzungura, Cosmas Kamhiriri Muchenje, Leo Berekai, Lloyd Mwarowa and Cephas Mukundi, shared similar views on Guthries’ love of trees and his delight as you witness plants and animal life flourishing within the park.

Kadzungura remembers his first meeting with Guthrie when he assigned him the task of collecting seeds. “He asked me to collect seeds from a tree inside the facility, which I did and delivered them to his office in no time. He was impressed how it didn’t take long.”

Roy Guthrie (pictured), who died on March 5 this year, will be remembered not only as a significant figure in Zimbabwean stone sculpture, or as the founder and director of the Chapungu Sculpture Park, but also as a passionate tree planter.

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He dreamed of planting a thousand trees along the road connecting Harare and Bulawayo. As a seed collector, Guthrie was aware of the medicinal values ​​and healing properties of native trees and what they represented in Shona culture.

In addition to encouraging and mentoring artists, he also taught them the value of planting trees in their homes and work spaces.

In an interview with IndependentXtra, several of the resident artists at the sculpture park, including Nicholas Kadzungura, Cosmas Kamhiriri Muchenje, Leo Berekai, Lloyd Mwarowa and Cephas Mukundi, shared similar views on Guthries’ love of trees and his delight as you witness plants and animal life flourishing within the park.

Kadzungura remembers his first meeting with Guthrie when he assigned him the task of collecting seeds. “He asked me to collect seeds from a tree inside the facility, which I did and delivered them to his office in no time. He was impressed how it didn’t take long.”

The artist, who works with harder stones, has participated in most of the Chapungu Sculpture Park Botanical Garden exhibitions held in Europe and the United States.

Guthrie was phenomenal in the way he promoted Shona sculpture around the world, in Europe, America, South Africa and Australia. He promoted the first, second and third generation of artists and a large number of them are successful in their respective art forms.

In the 1980s, verdite stone (bud stone or African jade) quarried in Concession, north of Harare, was considered the best stone and was even used to make jewelry. To improve the quality of Zimbabwe stone sculpture, Guthrie helped the artists collect the semi-precious stone from the quarry. He was also instrumental in helping them identify high-quality stones that did not crack and had a solid base, allowing their pieces to remain solid once placed on the platforms.

Moving to Chapungu Sculpture Park from Bridge House, which was an artist space situated in the Kopje area of ​​Harare, where artists met and worked on their pieces, allowed Guthrie to broaden his vision to include larger sculptures.

He bought rough stones for artists and they paid or deducted percentages when the work of art was completed.

This greatly inspired many second generation artists. “Roy worked hard to encourage our generation of artists who arrived shortly after the first generation. It became evident that stone art would have a bright future. Our first exhibitions became popular and people started coming to Zimbabwe to buy our sculptures,” said Muchenje, who began working with Guthrie between 1982 and 1983.

He also urged them to draw inspiration from Shona mythology and culture.

“He was unique among art promoters as he had a deep knowledge of Shona sculpture and could guide artists in their artistic processes. Whenever I discussed it with him, he gave me advice on how to improve my pieces. He talked about art to such an extent that I felt encouraged,” Berekai commented.

To showcase the achievements of Zimbabwe’s stone sculpture movement, Guthrie planned to establish a museum within the Chapungu Sculpture Park. The museum would feature enormous sculptures that would reach heights of ten meters and would attract visitors from outside the country. Additionally, he wanted artwork that demonstrated and represented the unity and collaborative efforts of the artists. He also wanted the large pieces to be displayed in public spaces and buildings in Zimbabwe.

National Gallery of Zimbabwe (NGZ) executive director Raphael Chikukwa said Guthrie’s contributions were enormous and beyond life in many ways.

“The National Gallery of Zimbabwe is proud of the contributions of Roy Guthrie through the catalogs that the Chapungu Sculpture Park published and these catalogs remain a testament to his work. Chapungu Sculpture Park is not just a sculpture park, but a cultural center that continues to attract sculpture lovers and buyers from all over the world. His footprints will be with us forever and may his soul rest in power because his contribution to the art of Zimbabwe is enormous.”

The sculpture park is home to the world’s largest collection of Zimbabwean stone sculptures. Not only are there over a thousand works of art displayed on the Msasa estate, but there are also many pieces in the Chapungu Sculpture Park in Colorado, USA, and in various gardens across Europe, particularly Germany. Chapungu helped launch the careers of many notable artists.

Among them Dominic Benhura, Tapfuma Gutsa, Henry Munyaradzi and Nicholas Mukomberanwa.

Guthrie was phenomenal in the way he promoted Shona sculpture around the world, in Europe, America, South Africa and Australia. He promoted the first, second and third generation of artists and a large number of them are successful in their respective art forms.

In the 1980s, verdite stone (bud stone or African jade) quarried in Concession, north of Harare, was considered the best stone and was even used to make jewelry. To improve the quality of Zimbabwe stone sculpture, Guthrie helped the artists collect the semi-precious stone from the quarry. He was also instrumental in helping them identify high-quality stones that did not crack and had a solid base, allowing their pieces to remain solid once placed on the platforms.

Moving to Chapungu Sculpture Park from Bridge House, which was an artist space situated in the Kopje area of ​​Harare, where artists met and worked on their pieces, allowed Guthrie to broaden his vision to include larger sculptures.

He bought rough stones for artists and they paid or deducted percentages when the work of art was completed.

This greatly inspired many second generation artists. “Roy worked hard to encourage our generation of artists who arrived shortly after the first generation. It became evident that stone art would have a bright future. Our first exhibitions became popular and people started coming to Zimbabwe to buy our sculptures,” said Muchenje, who began working with Guthrie between 1982 and 1983.

He also urged them to draw inspiration from Shona mythology and culture.

“He was unique among art promoters as he had a deep knowledge of Shona sculpture and could guide artists in their artistic processes. Whenever I discussed it with him, he gave me advice on how to improve my pieces. He talked about art to such an extent that I felt encouraged,” Berekai commented.

To showcase the achievements of Zimbabwe’s stone sculpture movement, Guthrie planned to establish a museum within the Chapungu Sculpture Park. The museum would feature enormous sculptures that would reach heights of ten meters and would attract visitors from outside the country. Additionally, he wanted artwork that demonstrated and represented the unity and collaborative efforts of the artists. He also wanted the large pieces to be displayed in public spaces and buildings in Zimbabwe.

National Gallery of Zimbabwe (NGZ) executive director Raphael Chikukwa said Guthrie’s contributions were enormous and beyond life in many ways.

“The National Gallery of Zimbabwe is proud of the contributions of Roy Guthrie through the catalogs that the Chapungu Sculpture Park published and these catalogs remain a testament to his work. Chapungu Sculpture Park is not just a sculpture park, but a cultural center that continues to attract sculpture lovers and buyers from all over the world. His footprints will be with us forever and may his soul rest in power because his contribution to the art of Zimbabwe is enormous.”

The sculpture park is home to the world’s largest collection of Zimbabwean stone sculptures. Not only are there over a thousand works of art displayed on the Msasa estate, but there are also many pieces in the Chapungu Sculpture Park in Colorado, USA, and in various gardens across Europe, particularly Germany. Chapungu helped launch the careers of many notable artists.

Among them Dominic Benhura, Tapfuma Gutsa, Henry Munyaradzi and Nicholas Mukomberanwa.