Henry Munyaradzi

Known across the movement simply as Henry, Munyaradzi is among the most celebrated sculptors Zimbabwe has produced. He was born in 1931 near Guruve, son of a mhondoro, a traditional spiritual leader. He never attended school, and was raised in part by his uncle Edward Chiwawa, himself a carver whose work this gallery also carries.

He joined the Tengenenge Sculpture Community in 1967 and remained largely self-taught his whole career. “I follow the shape of the stone,” he said of his method. “There's a harmonious relationship between myself and the stone.” His work pares technique and imagery down to the essence of the subject: intersecting flat planes, circles, cones and cylinders held in balance.

He held eight solo exhibitions across London, Los Angeles, Berlin, Heidelberg and Harare, and his work sits in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Chapungu Sculpture Park and the British Museum. He died in February 1998, aged 67, and is buried near Guruve.