Lizeni Nasho

It's been a few days since I was able to add to this blog, but in the meantime lots of information has come from John about some of the artists whose work we have received.

In the previous post, I showed the marvellous "Tonga Head" which I unwrapped by chance. This was carved in verdite (a very hard stone) by woman called Lizeni Nasho.

The pictures with this posting show Lizeni at work, and where she lives. She is a widow and supports around twenty people including her two daughters, Grace and Sandra, through her carving. It involves her in walking a round trip of twelve miles to work each day. Maybe that's not such an unusual thing in Zimbabwe, but on top of that she was very ill some months ago with the cholera.

Lizeni recovered, but others were not so lucky, including Nicodemus, another of the sculptors, who sadly died. We have been sent some of his last pieces, I believe, and the proceeds from selling these will go to his widow Sekai and his family.

Another sculptor is Lezeni's twin brother Godwin, who lost his only child last year at the age of two.

John Simpson in one of his messages to me said "In a way the artists and their extended families will become Marlow’s extended family and [you will] at times share their pain". This is very true. What started out as a project to put on a sculpture show from some anonymous carvers has taken on a much more personal dimension.

I may never get to meet Lizeni Nasho but it is amazing and very humbling that people living in such basic conditions can be producing such wonderful work... and then sending it on trust to us, hoping that we can find the right people to buy it. For Lizeni and the others we have to make this show a huge success.

A thing of beauty

I said in the last posting that we left all the sculptures wrapped up. Not quite true... I couldn't resist the temptation to have a sneak preview.

The first I opened was a lovely wooden carving. An African farmer... with a sheep on his shoulders. The penny dropped: the good shepherd. I mentioned before that Stephen is in hospital and this felt like a message to me, so I sent the shepherd to "visit" Stephen at the John Radcliffe as we continue to pray for his recovery.

After that... well, I had to take a look at a stone one too, didn't I? So I chose a second parcel, entirely at random. You can see below what I found. Words fail me to describe how beautiful this is. And to think it has been made by someone living in desperately poor conditions (John Simpson has sent me more about the artists and their lives and I will post some more of this another time; but believe me when I say people are having a very tough time in Zimbabwe).

Getting involved with this project is proving very exhilarating and also very humbling. It's certainly turning for me into something that goes well beyond just putting on an exhibition. Let's say "Praise the Lord" and leave it at that for now because the beauty of this carving speaks much louder than any words of mine.

What a morning!

There I was, sitting by the phone waiting for the haulier to call to say he was about to arrive with the sculptures.

By 10.30 I was getting worried. Surely he should have called by now?

At 10.45 I was - momentarily - cheered by the news that the truck was half an hour away. Then came the bombshell... "You do have a forklift truck to take the crate off, don't you?" Erm, well no, actually. We'd been told the truck would have its own or a tail-lift. Panic!

Called my team of volunteers and met the driver when he arrived. Right, let's see: one large crate on one large truck (now parked across our gateway)... Nothing for it but to get up on the wagon, break open the crate and start handing the pieces down individually. Which is what we did, with the assistance of a REALLY helpful driver to whom I am eternally grateful.

Amazingly it only took us half an hour or so to unload the whole consignment this way, the crate itself being the last item off. The items ranged from tiny parcels that fit in the palm of your hand through to one that took three of us to lift! All still wrapped up so the actual contents remain a bit mysterious. For the moment we have put everything into safe storage, the unwrapping will come in a few weeks when we catalogue everything.

So thanks to all the offloaders: Janet, Iain, Alistair, Jim, John x 2, Valerie, Allan, Pauline and Hilary. And to a very kind truck driver. What a morning, indeed! And there was more to come, which I will post next.

Here's what's coming

The photos show "our crate" when it was packed in Harare.

This is the box that is now expected in Marlow and - rather to everyone's surprise - it will be arriving tomorrow! Customs have passed the shipment through more quickly than expected, we have a few volunteers ready to pitch in once it is here and my crowbar is ready for action.

Along with the inspiration of John Simpson (see earlier posting) the fact that we are putting on the exhibition owes much to the leadership of Stephen Smith, one of our local Elders. Unfortunately, Stephen won't be there tomorrow to see the crate arrive as he is laid up in hospital recovering from a nasty operation.

Get well soon, Stephen, and we hope you will be back with us before long to see the results.

The sculptures are nearly here!

The "big day" is getting closer...

Our sculptures have been on their way from Zimbabwe in a big crate, on board a containership of the MSC line. As I write I believe they are in Antwerp, soon to be forwarded on to the UK.

We don't have a definite delivery date yet but it looks like it could be one day this coming week. Then there are a few small matters to attend to like:

• opening the crate... (maybe not as easy as it sounds! Anyone got a crowbar?)


• moving the sculptures somewhere safe


• opening the wrappings and seeing what we have actually got


• photographing them ready for the exhibition catalogue...

And probably a few more we haven't even thought of yet.

Are we excited? You bet!

Johnston Simpson and the artists of Harare

The Spirit of Zimbabwe exhibition would never have been conceived without the work and support of Johnston Simpson. An Elder at Walton on Thames URC, Johnston was on holiday in Zimbabwe in 1999 and visited Silveira House, a Catholic development centre working against poverty by providing training in practical skills. He started to help in a private capacity, shipping practical items over to them. And, as a return gift, he was sent a springstone sculpture called "Inner Peace".

By this time, a co-operative of sculptors was working in the grounds of Silveira House, where they remain. Mugabe's government had made 700,000 people homeless and the economy was in a state of collapse. As a part of this, the lack of tourists had removed the ability of the sculptors to sell their works. Johnston brought over a few pieces, then more, and eventually arranged for a crate of them to be imported. Others have followed, with various churches receiving the works and putting them on sale.

The extended family system means that approximately 200 people in Zimbabwe are benefiting from the sale of these sculptures in the UK. It may be a drop in an ocean of need, but it is a vital lifeline for this community in Harare. The outbreak of cholera in late 2008 was another blow to the group; some have died, others have lost family members. But by the start of this year some £40,000 had been raised and sent back to Zimbabwe and the total must now be far higher. And, through Silveira House, John can make sure that every penny finds its way back to the artists who create these works.

When things are as desperate as they have been in Zimbabwe, can one person make a difference? Johnston Simpson's example gives an emphatic "yes" to that question!

What is Spirit of Zimbabwe?

Welcome to the Spirit of Zimbabwe blog!

What's it about? Well, very simply: we are putting on an exhibition of art and sculpture from Zimbabwe, in the town of Marlow in the UK.

Who are "we"? Christ Church United Reformed Church, a small congregation with a big heart, hoping through this to reach out to some artists living and working in very difficult conditions in Zimbabwe.

So far we have started the ball rolling by ordering a crate of sculptures which is now on its way to Marlow. And, somehow, we have to be ready to receive them, catalogue them, put them on show and sell them, in order to send the money back to Zimbabwe. It's a big challenge and I will post progress reports and pictures on this site.

Just to give a flavour of it, I have posted a few photos of sculptures brought in for some other places last year. I will add pictures of the sculptures coming to Marlow, as soon as I have them.

And, finally, the most important thing. The DATES for Spirit of Zimbabwe in Marlow will be: Friday 12th to Sunday 21st March, 2010. Come and see us!