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By Terrence Chitukudza
Stalin Tafura is a stone sculptor, born 29 years ago in Nyanga, the eastern part of the country known for its luxuriant vegetation.
Tafura’s story sounds like a biblical tale of the unhonoured prophet whose prowess is celebrated in foreign lands and not his home country.
This is because he is largely anonymous in the sculpting zones of Zimbabwe.
But his work is celebrated in Colorado, US, and has also made inroads in England, Germany and Holland where he has held successful exhibitions.
A soft-spoken dude, Tafura is son to Zimbabwe’s prominent sculptress, Agness Nyanhongo.
But it was his uncle, Claudio Nyanhongo, who initiated him into sculpture.
“I started carving stones at a very young age under the guidance of Claudio Nyanhongo – a first generation sculptor.”
Tafura remembers his childhood, growing up in the precincts of luxuriant trees and thick bushes of Nyanga, picking up the hammer and chisel to hit the stone.
“Growing up in Nyanga was quite an experience and I must say it gave me my first creative impulse.
“Those images of nature shaped my art visions,” he said.
And so almost all his pieces bear a tenor of nature “calling bird” – is a narration of the relationship between human beings and animals reflecting the underlying interdependence of the two sets of creations.
So the bird is pictured, calling people to converge in the open space and discuss issues affecting the two sets of creatures and how they can live in harmony.
Tafura seems to have a natural bias towards animals, especially the endangered species, allowing his work to assume the wailing and crackling voice of the species on the brink of extinction, animating them in their struggle with issues of contingency.
In the piece “Elephant Shadow”, Tafura’s concern is the future of the elephants. He equates their predicament to that of the dinosaurs which became extinct a long time ago leaving nothing but mere “shadows” of the species.
In the piece “Stories from the Sea” Tafura exposes the truth about sea life, the goings-on in the sea as he questions popular notions that the sea is soothing and nourishing – calm and at peace with everything.
He brings forward the antithesis of these claims in the piece “Stories from the Sea” portraying the fish as the narrator of all those grisly events that prevail in the sea which people may not be aware of.
The sea is the home of mermaids, the marauding sharks and a wide range of other dangerous species.
“The sea is not always calm,” the fish seems to be saying.
Other pieces by Stalin Tafura include ” Searching my Soul”, a piece that reveals of the underlying will for self-discovery as the individual is told by faint voices to identify and acquaint with himself for him to fit in the broader society.
The instruction in this piece comes in the form of inner dialogue, kind of intra, as the individual regurgitates issues of the community, starting with himself, his neighbour and eventually the whole community.
Another of Stalin’s pieces is “Patience has Wings”, in which the human face is presented with a pair of outstretched wings, ready to fly. It is more or less a reminder of the unpredictable structures of life in which events unfold at their own pace.
Human beings do not have control of most life events, hence the need for them to be patient and allow time, if not nature, to take its own course.
Tafura has a unique way of addressing issues about life.
Some of his works seem to be a journey in reverse, as he reminisces on issues about spirits and how they are part of the living.
And in the distant lands of Colorado in the US, he finds time to ridicule the strangling weather in the North and Western countries, juxtaposing it with his homeland’s friendlier and more predictable weather.
He puts forward the piece “Changing Seasons”, which tells of the hostile climate in Europe and America which he cannot contend with.
And for his mastery Tafura has muscled his way into Europe’s and America’s prestigious galleries.
His work has been described by art critics as “reflections of African visions through art”.
The young artiste will on Friday leave for a six-month tour of Europe and America.