Page 53 - Zimbabwe Stone Sculpure 1st Edition

BERNARD MATAMERA
From the beginning, Bernard was very loyal to Tengenenge and even when he was recognized as one of Zimbabwe’s world- renowned sculptors, he continued to work and live there. He was
born in 1946 close to the town of Guruve, situated near to Tengenenge. He first met Tom Blomefield in the early 1960s and one was one of the pioneering artists who started with him when Blomefield transformed his farm, which had huge deposits of serpentine, into Tengenenge.
He died in 2006 but he left behind a wonderful legacy. His large, bold anthropomorphic figures always demand attention. They are powerful and energetic images. Shona mythologies that combined the animal, human and spirit world played a big part in influencing his ideas but the final product is based on his individual deductions and not necessarily on actual beliefs. There is a large amount of sexual power in his sculpture which features large breasts, rounded bottoms and thighs and, some people believe, trans-sexuality. He often carved figures with three fingers or toes which he said represented a tribe living in the north of the country.
There is freshness in his work that is something to be celebrated and enjoyed.
Bernard became the father figure at Tengenenge after the departure of other famous artists, including Fanizani Akuda and Henry Munyaradzi, and his work the hallmark of the sculpture there.
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