This month the National Gallery of Zimbabwe remembers one of Zimbabwe’s most successful female stone sculptors ever, Colleen Madamombe, who passed away on May 31st 2009. She was a short woman of energy and girth who at her peak could out-carve any man in a traditionally male domain and whose sculptures explored and celebrated the fuller female figure.

Born in 1964 in Harare, Colleen trained at the BAT Workshop School under the National Gallery of Zimbabwe from 1985-1986 and in that same year she married Zimbabwean artist Fabian Madamombe.

Left: Colleen Madamombe with one of her sculptures.
(Picture: africanartists.blogspot.com)

In 1991 she proceeded to work at Chapungu Sculpture Park for three years where she started carving a series of women's works in various activities, states of mind and explored all manner of traditional and academic subject matter through commitment to one theme.

Through determination and aptitude Colleen won world acclaim and sold her work internationally.  An exhibition on her life and works will open at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare on the 9th of March 2010 and will run till the end of the month.

Having had her sculptures travel internationally and exhibited in several important exhibitions in countries like Spain, Germany, USA and England, Colleen’s short stout women figures quickly became a symbol of womanhood in Zimbabwe, representing the strong matriarchal stature that is active, involved, and hardworking and yet able to discharge all her traditional duties.

These themes of womanhood , women at work, harvesting, carrying water, winnowing and giving birth which are experiences with which she was personally familiar are some of the subjects that led her to acquire an inspirational role within the stone sculpture movement.

The theme of mother and child was an important one to Colleen, but so was the idea of freeing women from their traditional roles. This was so much so that during the late 1990s Colleen and fellow female sculptor, Agnes Nyanhongo became two clear and remarkable examples of this transformation as they spearheaded work in new domains, previously unexplored by women. 

In a publication by Chapungu Sculpture Park simply titled Agnes Nyanhongo and Colleen Madamombe the two close friends described themselves, in their own words as “I think that it is the artistic spirit: we are people who can bring out things within us, to expose them. Like sculpting, we bring out what we think or what we have and how we think things should be...it’s like bringing it out of the stone: it will be stone at first and something comes out from nothing.” 

The themes of woman today still provide continuing inspiration as Colleen was interested not just in the emotional and spiritual side to a woman’s life but was also fascinated by the basic physical appearance and movement peculiar to her sex. The energy and stature of the women in her work revealed great pride and authority even in the most humble of characters and activities portrayed. The results of this artistic determination can be seen in sculptures which, although often bound by external expectations regarding beauty and subtlety, nevertheless represent some of the most honest and direct portrayals.

Her main goal was to represent the voice of a new generation of Zimbabwean women and this was emphasized predominantly through a contrast of rough and polished parts of springstone. As a female artist she advocated for other women to explore art and not be threatened by their male counterparts. She believed that so many women have talent but it is only that they do not realize their potential.

Her name will go down in history, for her courage and determination, and for being one of those Zimbabweans who dares challenge the status quo. May her soul rest in eternal peace.

- National Gallery of Zimbabwe, The Zimbo Jam

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