Houston Botanical Garden features works by Zimbabwean sculptors

For the past 10 weeks, Zimbabwean sculptors Passmore Mupindiko and Percy Kuta have made the Houston Botanic Garden their studio. While walking through the botanical garden, visitors were able to stop and watch the two artists work hard to design magnificent sculptures.

Some stopped, sat and watched. Others chatted with the artists as they chiseled, sanded and designed their sculptures.

“It’s really nice to see people come and appreciate what I was doing,” Mupindiko said.

The visiting artists are part of a program called ZimSculpt, which amplifies the work of Zimbabwean sculptors around the world. One way they do this is through in-person exhibitions where they bring sculptors to botanical gardens and other similar spaces.

Their stay in Houston, which began March 23 and included a market to purchase items in addition to large sculptures spread throughout the property, ends Sunday.

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ZimSculpt works with around 300 artists creating in the field of Shona sculptures. The Shona are an ethnic group from Zimbabwe and the tradition began in the late 1950s and 1960s.

Using mainly stones found in Zimbabwe, the sculptors do not sketch out their ideas in advance. Instead, inspiration comes to them as they create the artwork. Mupindiko, who primarily creates bird statues, said he would start working on a stone with a general idea of ​​what to do, but had to “find it where it is” in the rock.

Sculptors use hammers, chisels, pickles, rasps and their hands to create the sculptures while using sandpaper and other methods to finish them.

Finished products can range from Mupindiko hummingbirds to Kuta abstract designs to depictions of people. The prices to buy them also vary from $10 to $30,000 or $40,000.

This is the fourth time ZimSculpt has hosted an exhibition in Texas. It previously housed exhibits at the Dallas Arboretum & Botanical Garden in 2017 and 2021 and at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden in 2023.

“We love Texas,” said Joseph Croisette, ZimSculpt’s curator. “Sometimes you can’t explain why you like something. You love it.”

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In addition to creating in the garden, Mupindiko said one of the moments he will remember most from his time in Houston will be his visit to NASA.

Justin Lacey, director of communications and community engagement for the Houston Botanic Garden, said the exhibit was a success for the garden.

“We had our strongest spring yet and this is part of it,” Lacey said. “People really connected with it and enjoyed it.”

Although the sculptors will soon be gone, the traditional Shona sculptures can still be seen at the garden. Two sculptures have been added to their permanent collection, including a flowing Leopard Rock sculpture titled “Free Form.”

Lacey also noted that many staff members have purchased artwork and some have placed it at their desks. He bought two stone eggs for his children before Easter and gave each of them an egg as a gift.

The other night he saw his youngest child holding her egg as she fell asleep.

“A lot of energy was spent carving a sculpture but it’s not wasted energy,” Croisette said. “The energy is always in the sculpture.”