Lazarus Takawira's Life and Work in 'Spirit of a Woman'

Zimbabwe Mon 08-08-2011

Lazarus Takawira's Life and Work in 'Spirit of a Woman'
By AfricanColours.com

'Spirit of a Woman: A journey through the sculpture of Lazarus Takawira' is one of the most authoritative books on one of Zimbabwe's and Africa's finest sculptors, Lazarus Takawira. The book, by author Celia Winter, is about this magnificent Zimbabwean sculptor, his life, work and origins.

Spirit-of-a-woman-Front-Page

"Spirit of a Woman: A journey through the sculpture of Lazarus Takawira:

Lazarus Takawira is described by the author as "a sculptor not overshadowed by the past or 'run down' by the present and sadly predictable future of the stone sculpture made in Zimbabwe".

The author draws comparison between Takawira's work and history's greats such as Michaelangelo, Donatello and Bernini. As with these sculptors in their time, the author notes that Lazarus' sculptures defy all traditional classifications of Zimbabwean sculptuor. "Lazarus Takawira is firstly a great sculptor whose work is comparable to figurative sculpture with longer traditions than his own".

Who is Lazarus Takawira?

Hailing from Nyanga in Zimbabwe's Eastern Highlands, Lazarus Takawira was born in 1952. He comes from a place referred to as "one of the 'places of origin' of the stone sculpture". The author narrates that this is the same place that gave us the late Frank McEwen, the first Director of the Gallery of Zimbabwe, whom Takawira says "was a great man who made great men and great sculptors out of ordinary men".

From the beginning, Takawira wanted to be known as a sculptor in his own right. He mixed methods by combining raw with refined work, occasionally leaving the "original stone to be recognized as a thing of beauty on its own right".

But by and large, Takawira's work is centred around the woman. He presents women in beautiful, dignified and fascinated form, and its is for this reason that the author refers to hims as "a sculptor who moved away from being categorized as a sculptor of a particular generation and became a sculptor set apart from his predecessors, his peers or those younger than himself".

This 46 page book [test] is a story of the work of Takawira, accompanied by stunning images of his work by photographer Eric Gauss.

Published in 2008, with special support from Marie Imbrova and the Alliance Francais, 'Spirit of a Woman.: A journey through the sculpture of Lazarus Takawira' is a tribute to a master.

This wonderful book is now available at AfricanColours. For information on how to grab yourself a copy, contact;

Tel : +254 724-231071 or +254 020 2250373

Email : info@africancolours.com or njoroge@africancolours.com

Posted By: Allan Kapten

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