NATIONAL Arts Merit Award (Nama) winner Farai Tandi, whose piece Bundles of Joy propelled him into global limelight, believes the year 2022 was a good one as his extensive social media campaign yielded desirable success, despite the slow pace at which buyers are purchasing his artefacts.
Tandi told NewsDay Life & Style that he carved a wide range of stone figurines during the COVID-19-induced lockdowns and is longing for a return to the good old days when tourists would flock Chitungwiza Arts Centre, and making big consignment purchases.
He also has another piece titled Together Forever, which is a figurine symbolising the love promises and vows-making process that a couple goes through when planning for everlasting joy in marriage.
“These are lovers promising everlasting love to each other,” he said.
The Together Forever statute is a good pitch for many hidden aspects of life that have to be explored.
“One such thing is the need for a serious drive to fully take into cognisance the under-18 marriage vice, taking into recognition that there has been an increase in child and teenage marriages. This carving provokes a lot of thinking whether to limit or not children’s access to reproductive health information as well as grooming our children.”
The sculpture Happy Again is an expression of happiness restored when a mother comes back to unite with her family and baby daughter, Tandi said, adding that they both missed each other, especially when the mother was working tirelessly to make sure that she brings home some goodies for her family.
Tandi reproduced a recurring teaching in several traditional stories and folklore that Mambo Shumba is the king of the jungle and the strongest and powerful animal.
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“The details show how powerful and strong he is,” he remarked.
Mother’s Love, according to Tandi, is best put in picture by elephants. Mother’s Love is a stunning image of a female elephant protecting her baby in the deep forest.
The same goes with our human world, where every mother protects their kids from harm, be it sexual, drug and emotional abuse among others, Tandi said.
“Children must be always be put ahead of you and where your eye is always looking at so that they won’t get astray,” he added.
Tandi’s art garden at the Chitungwiza Arts Centre, Makanaka the Black beauty African Lady, is just a brain teaser of how much Africa has been blessed with beautiful and confident ladies.
Tandi appealed to the corporate world to embrace visual art in its various forms.
“We need the marketers and arts promoters to come in the same spirit they do for music and film and take our stone sculptures into mainstream business,” he said.
“This, in turn, puts a sense of value to our artworks. It also helps attract tourists — both regional and international — to want to have a look at our sculptures as well as possibly seal deals.”
Over the years, Tandi has put emphasis on precision to detail and image reduplication.
His artistry revolves around hard stones like springstone, cobalt, dolomite, leopardrock, fruitstone, brown opal and many others.
