CHITUNGWIZA Arts Centre’s Shepherd Phiri depicts animal behaviour through stone carving and admits that human conduct at times is better understood by watching and learning from the animal kingdom.
Phiri is famed for engraving bluegrass stone, which is arguably one of the hardest carvable stones found in Zimbabwe.
He has produced striking statuettes like The Landing Eagle, The Kissing Giraffes, the Jazz Acoustic Bass and The Neighing Horse, among several other creations and abstracts.
Bluegrass stone is found in Muyamuro village in Guruve and may easily be mistaken for spring stone in its raw state and when polished, it assumes a glittering greenish colour similar to the sky because of its infinity like optic illusion.
Phiri has a story behind each of his carvings and like many other visual artists, he retells the story of giraffes through carving them in different postures such as when browsing, grazing and drinking water.
In contrast to other animals, the giraffes spread their legs apart until their heads pivoted on long necks access water from a pool on the ground.
“Family unions are best maintained by accommodating and supporting each other in areas of strength and in weaknesses. One animal species that has such adorable characters and behaviour is the giraffe,” Phiri said.
“When they are young, they have a lovely way of interacting and similarly when they grow, they move, graze and browse in a respectful manner to each other. They kiss to show affection and concord while they show a sharp contrast when they get offended.
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“They make brutal swings of their long necks and strike each other’s horns. They make several attacks at each other and only give up when in extreme agony and fatigue. Giraffes like most herbivores only fight when they meet a strange family.”
The sculptor believes that rural to urban or urban to peri-urban/rural migration is grooming a new culture of being inhospitable to strangers.
Like animals, when people move around, one may not find it easy to track what they are hunting and what they are seeking to prey on.
“Human environment is now modernised and people work to gain income in many different ways. Some are at work even through listening, seeing and writing what is happening,” Phiri said.
“Some have more defined actions like buying, selling, driving and others have uniforms and or branding which make everyone else identify them easily.
“Art or creative work is quite distinct from all our imaginations because it can be appreciated and gain favour in its raw and/or absolute form.”
Social media is the main tool for communication. People have become proficient in using social media and entry into groups for information sharing is by invitation.
Social media groups to an extent have resulted in the formation of powerful synergies and syndicates or what most people would prefer to be known as networks and partnerships.
Phiri defended the thought-provoking ornamented and fancy hairstyle donned by woman as just an expression of artistic freedom and symbol of a hard working woman.
He is one of the several artists who call for the establishment of a viable arts industry.
It now runs in the family as Phiri has mentored his wife Charity to become a floral sculptor.
Charity is best known as a poet and actress in several Fun City Theatre stages and social media productions.
