MISSIONARIES’ IMPACT ON THE FORMATION OF MODERN ART IN ZIMBABWE: A CASE STUDY OF CYRENE AND SERIMA ART WORKSHOPS by GRACE ZHOU Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the subject of ART HISTORY at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: PROF BMR VAN HAUTE NOVEMBER 2017 1 Declaration I declare that Missionaries’ impact on the formation of modern art in Zimbabwe: A case study of Cyrene and Serima art workshops is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. Signature …………G. Zhou Date ………………… November 2017 2 Title: Missionaries’ impact on the formation of modern art in Zimbabwe: A case study of Cyrene and Serima art workshops. Summary: Focusing on Cyrene and Serima art workshops under the tutelage of Paterson and Groeber, respectively, the study acknowledges the foundational importance of Christian art (from the late 1930s up to the 1960s) in the rise of prominent first generation artists in Zimbabwe such as Mukomberanwa, Ndandarika, Khumalo, Songo, Sambo and many others. It rejects perceptions of African modernism as inauthentic imitations of artistic innovations that originated with European art. While accepting that there was a deliberate fusion of traditional art into mission mainstream education to produce Christian art forms with a strong Africanised identity, the study reveals missionaries’ conservatism and restrictions on artistic freedom. It, therefore, locates the formation of modern art in Zimbabwe largely within a broader spectrum of Africans’ encounter with colonialism or western culture which induced artists to invent new artistic expressions reflecting their own emergent political and socio-economic circumstances. The novelty and outright rejection of missionary impact are, therefore, alien to the natural synthesis that informed artistic modernism in Zimbabwe. List of key terms: Missionaries; Colonialism; Art workshops; African modernism; Appropriation; Hybridisation; Artistic expression; Homogeneity; Heterogeneity; tradition and culture. 3 CONTENTS: Page PREFACE i LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS iii LIST OF ABBREVATIONS viii CHAPTER 1 Introduction 1 1.1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 1 1.2 LITERATURE REVIEW 4 1.3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 8 1.4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 11 1.5 OUTLINE OF THE CONTENTS 17 CHAPTER 2 Cyrene and Serima Mission art workshops in colonial Zimbabwe, 1930s-1960s 19 2.1 INTRODUCTION 19 2.2 PATERSON’S CYRENE MISSION ART WORKSHOP 19 2.3 GROEBER’S SERIMA (SAINT MARY’S) MISSION ART WORKSHOP 41 2.4 CONCLUSION 55 CHAPTER 3 Cyrene Mission and Modern African Art Development in Zimbabwe 56 3.1 INTRODUCTION 56 3.2 SAMUEL SONGO (1929-1990?) 57 3.3 LAZARUS KHUMALO (1930-2015) 62 3.4 KINGSLEY SAMBO 66 3.5 THE IMPACT OF CYRENE ART EDUCATION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART IN ZIMBABWE 75 3.6 CONCLUSION 84 CHAPTER 4 Serima Mission and modern Art Development in Zimbabwe 87 4.1 INTRODUCTION 87 4.2 NICHOLAS MUKOMBERANWA (1940-2002) 88 4.3 JOSEPHY NDANDARIKA (1940-1991) 103 4.4 CONCLUSION 112 CHAPTER 5 Conclusion 114 BIBLIOGRAPHY 122 ILLUSTRATIONS 131 4 PREFACE This dissertation examines the impact of missionaries on the formation of modern art in Zimbabwe, specifically focusing on Cyrene and Serima art workshops. It is my argument that African modernism must be largely understood within a complex narrative of the movements, appropriations, rejections and transformations of diverse Western and African traditions and cultural contexts in Zimbabwe’s art-historical life. The study shows that African modernism in Zimbabwe was not a homogeneous entity but a variegated one that emerged from, survived, and transcended European colonialism. Yet sound as this may appear, I argue that missionaries’ impact must be understood as part of the broad phenomena that shaped the formation of modern art in Zimbabwe. In spite of the conservatism and restrictions to artistic freedom by missionaries, Cyrene and Serima art workshops laid the foundation for and defined the direction of the development of modern art in colonial Zimbabwe. It were these mission art workshops that inaugurated the blending of Christian iconography with traditional African forms and styles which became a permanent feature of modern art in Zimbabwe. This work therefore hopes to fill the historiographical gaps left by previous scholars by linking the emergence of modern African art to mission art workshops and colonialism. Images of artworks collected largely from Cyrene, Serima, National Archives of Zimbabwe and the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, are the most important primary source and main object of the research, with written sources and interviews merely used to support ideas derived from the artworks. Several people have been of great help in the production of this dissertation and I am greatly indebted to all of them. I especially want to thank, Prof Van Haute, of the Department of Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology, University of South Africa, whose thorough supervision and insightful criticisms enabled me to complete the writing of this dissertation. Many thanks also go 5 to various interviewees, such as artists Lazarus Khumalo, Tapfumanei Gutsa and Gabriel Hatugari, and historians Dr James Muzondidya and Pathisa Nyathi, who gave their living testimonies during fieldwork. I am also greatly indebted to the staff at NAZ, staff at Cyrene, and Roman Catholic Church leaders based at the Gweru diocese and Serima, for finding and making available relevant study material. Finally, I would also like to thank members of my family and relatives for their enthusiastic support through all my years of studying. I especially want to thank my husband Dr Takavafira Zhou for conducting some interviews on my behalf and linking me to his colleagues in the field of history; and children, Chiedza, Tania, Victor and Ryan, for their patience, endurance and understanding throughout the period of studying. I know I will never be able to reciprocate their sacrifice, but my debt to them is better felt than expressed. While I have benefitted greatly from the help of such caring friends, relatives and colleagues, and conscientious and skilful mentors in the writing of this dissertation, all mistakes and shortcomings are entirely my responsibilities. 6 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig 1. Edward Paterson, The Ascended Christ Blesses his Disciples (1939). Murals. Photographed at Cyrene by the writer (2015). 143 Fig 2. Students doing handwork (Paterson 1949a:5). 143 Fig 3. E Dhlula, The Prodigal Son [n.d.]. Mural. Photographed at Cyrene by the writer (2015). 144 Fig 4. Anon, Good Samaritan [n.d]. Mural. Photographed by writer at Cyrene (2015). 144 Fig 5. Abiathar Simangola, The Sower (1946). Mural. (Paterson 1949a:8-9). 145 Fig 6. Anon, untitled Cyrene painting (1939-1945) (http://www.lassco.co.uk/cyrene.html). 145 Fig 7. Anon, untitled Cyrene painting [n.d. but in 1939-1945 folios] (http://www.lassco.co.uk/cyrene.html). 146 Fig 8. Anon, untitled Cyrene student art [n.d.] The Cyrene Book (1940-1953). 146 Fig 9. Photographed Serima church by the writer (2016). 147 Fig 10. One of the carvings in the sanctuary with scenes from the old and new testament. Photographed by the writer (2016). 147 Fig 11. Lady’s altar showing the arches and part of the wall paintings depicting the Last Supper. Photographed by the writer (2016). 148 Fig 12. Nicholas Mukomberanwa, Man (1969). Seatite, dimensions not given (Sultan 1999:11). 148 Fig 13. View of the chapel dedicated to the Martyrs of Uganda. Photographed by the writer (2016). 149 Fig 14. Samuel Songo, Untitled (1956).Watercolour painted, 35 x 25 cm. Signed and dated: San Songo Cyrene 1956 (www.bidorbuy.co.za). 150 7 Fig 15. Samuel Songo, Untitled (1966). Water colour, 25 × 35 cm (www.2021modernart.com). 150 Fig 16. Samuel Songo, Mother and child (1948). Wonderstone, h. 32 cm (NAZ, Harare). 151 Fig 17. From left to right, Lazarus Khumalo, Ndebele Warrior; Sam Songo, Man with a thorn & Good Shepherd (1950/51). Wonderstone, h. 28cm (DAC Walker 1985:35). 155 Fig 18. Samuel Songo, TheProdigal Son (1954). Wonderstone, 20 x 26 cm (NAZ, Harare). 132 Fig 19. Lazarus Khumalo, Moses with the commandments (1960). Sandstone, h. 60 cm (Joosten, 2001: 41). 152 Fig 20. LazarusKhumalo, Witch Doctor [n.d]. Soapstone sculpture, dimensions unknown (http://www.archives.gov/research/african-art/select-list-106.html). 153 Fig 21. Kingsley Sambo, Dancers (1962). Oil on canvas laid to board, 69 x 118.5 cm (www.mutualart.com/Artist/Kingsley-Sambo/.../Artworks). 153 Fig 22. Kingsley Sambo, City Night Life (n.d). Oil, 313 x 450 cm. Image Credit: The US National Archives, Oklahoma City, Contemporary African Art Select List number 209 (www.archives.gov). 154 Fig 23. Kingsley Sambo, After the Rain, Township (1962). Medium and size not given (https://www.facebook.com/harareartcentre/.../a.../369281313149869/?). 154 Fig 24. Kingsley Sambo, Sipo and Nandi (1965). Oil on board, 92 x 58 cm (National Gallery of Zimbabwe). 155 Fig 25. Kingsley Sambo, At the Mine (n.d). Oil, 431 x 632 cm. Image Credit:The US National Archives, Oklanda City, Contemporary African Art Select List number 208 (www.archives.gov). 155 8 Fig 26. Kingsley Sambo, Self-Portrait (1974). Medium and size not given. Signed and dated: ‘Sambo 17 March 1974’ (www.justanswer.com). 156 Fig 27. Livingstone Sango, Escape into Egypt (1949). Watercolour, size not given (Private collection). 156 Fig 28. Adam Madebe, Ploughman (1993). Metal, no dimensions. Outside Hurudza House, Harare. Photographed by writer (2016). 157 Fig 29. Adam Madebe, Construction Workers (1993). Metal, no dimensions. Jaison Moyo Avenue, Harare, Photographed by the writer (2016). 157 Fig 30. David Ndhlovu, Tiredman (1985). Metal, no dimensions. Bulawayo City. Photographed by writer (2016). 158 Fig 31. George Nene, Liberation Part Two (1985). Medium and dimensions unknown (The Patriot, 29 October 2015).