Passion for art drives lawyer

Tawanda Marwizi Arts Correspondent
Sculpture is part of our heritage and many sculptors have made names across the globe for their stone-carving prowess. The art requires hard work and serious attention and it is common for a sculptor to spend many days on a single piece. And this has led most sculptors to drop other professions to solely focus on the art. However, lawyer-cum-sculptor David Ngwerume has defied odds.Between his busy schedule with legal matters, which sees him moving between his office and the courts for the better part of the week, Ngwerume finds time to carve pieces from stone. He usually works on his sculptures over the weekend.

The artist is well-known for the carvings of ancient scales that represent the justice system that he did in 2010. The pieces are currently displayed at both entries of the Harare and Bulawayo High Courts. His passion to defend our heritage through stone work drove him into art.

Despite being a lawyer – a noble profession that he can happily live on – Ngwerume takes weekend days to craft his stone pieces at Hatfield Arts Centre that is located along Joshua Nkomo Road (Airport Road). He says he will continue working with stones because the name Zimbabwe means “House of stone”and there is need for people to preserve the country’s heritage in various ways, especially working on sculpture.

“Stone work is part of our culture. We cannot talk of sequential growth without referring to our heritage. We are proud of our heritage and we should guard it,” said Ngwerume. His gallery is full of large pieces made from different type of stones. The dreadlocked sculptor said big pieces of stone are a reflection of perception on a bigger scale.

“These long sculptors have an impact as they tell different stories on a large scale,” said Ngwerume. He explained one piece that shows a hand with a golf ball and said it explains the concept teeing off in a golf game and represents various issues related to the game. “In this piece I was trying to explain the early stages of golf. As you see that this is a hand holding a golf ball preparing to hit the first shot,” he said.

For him golf is one of the interesting sport activities and he saw the need to make a piece to celebrate the discipline. “It is a unique sport that is played by level-headed people. I just find it interesting to have something of that nature. It symbolises many things about the game and people that are involved in the sport,” he said.

Ngwerume believes our cultural values will not easily fade away despite the new inventions that are coming. “There are basic things that we cannot take away from our culture. Let’s take for example the case of the car that has as four wheels. That is basic and even those who invented it do not change but they develop from there.

“That is the same with our culture. Zimbabwe means house of stone and that will not change. Works of stones define us and sculpture is one of such works,” he said. His art works are made of spring stone and opal acquired from Chiweshe and Guruve. Weekend days are enough for him to come and make his stone works.

He fell in love with stone art as a young boy and, despite making it academically, Ngwerume did not drop his art and vows to continue carving stones and encouraging young artists to pursue the art with passion.