FEATURE

Zimbabwe: Art, Symbol And Meaning is an outstanding volume of photographs taken over a 20-year period which for the first time comprehensively documents Zimbabwe’s extraordinary cultural legacy

Gill Atherstone, curator of traditional and contemporary art at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe from 1979-1988, has selected an expansive range of artworks from the three cultures of Zimbabwe – the Shona, Ndebele and Tonga – which vividly illuminate the breadth of Africa’s art. Written from an African perspective, Gill’s accompanying text is insightful as well as educational – she has been researching the subject for over 40 years. “I hope that this book is a contribution towards the growing drive to reclaim African cultural realities as a source of key principles in the future,” Gill says.

Gill’s son, the acclaimed painter Duncan Wylie, was responsible for the book’s imagery. “On every occasion in the remote communities of Zimbabwe, people responded enthusiastically to the idea of taking photographs as a record of culture – aware as they frequently told us that their culture as it was would not survive into the future,” he says. “Above all this is a work of transmission and a valuable insight for the non-African world towards a deeper appreciation of African life forms, and a wider perception of the possibilities of art – a key to a world few have experienced.”

These figurative tsvimbo (staffs) were held by representatives of both spiritual and secular leadership.

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The traditional hearth of a home in the Last Destination, a cultural village in Mudzi in the far east of Zimbabwe, where Pendeke Chiunye has preserved and honoured traditions for over 40 years.

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This is a mutsago, a Shona headrest. It includes the distinctive symbol of the chevron and, unusually on a headrest, symbols of the feminine. Symbolic breasts were more usually featured on ceremonial pots.

The cover image of Zimbabwe: Art, Symbol And Meaning was taken by Duncan Wylie ten years ago. It features a young girl called Memory who was well-known to Gill and Duncan’s family. Memory’s love of fashion past and contemporary tied many of the threads of the book together, and it was felt by the book’s authors, as well as its publisher, Eric Gysels of 5 Continents Editions, that Memory perfectly encapsulated the purpose and values of the book. In February 2024 Duncan took this photograph (above) of Memory holding the book on whose cover she stars.