It struck me as a community that is very spiritual and humble. The sight of young boys in tattered shorts playing plastic balls reminded me of my early days of rural childhood.
But the stone sculptures that were neatly arranged under tidy indigenous tree shades were completely divorced from my village background. I reckoned I was in a unique village.
The sight of a white heavily-bearded man with equally dense hair in his seemingly outdated jeans and cross belts was amazing.
Several questions on how he was surviving in a mountainous thicket of people that seemed very common were all answered by the sight of unique stone images as we toured the village.
The man was none other than Tom Blomefield, the founder of the sculpture community.
That was in 2006. I visited the community many other times before and after Blomefield’s departure from the centre that is now being run by renowned local sculptor Dominic Benhura.
I also met Blomefield at several visual arts functions, especially at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe where his heart had been stolen by an equally unique character and arts fanatic in the form of the late Celia Winter-Irving (may her soul rest in peace) even when he had descended from the Tengenenge helm.
Several other visits to the sculpture community did not show any changes in the beliefs, determination and conspicuous patience of the sculptors.That was until last weekend when I made another long journey to the creatively-endowed community.
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A chrome extraction plant (they say it is owned by the Chinese) has given the place a completely different look. The three-kilometre drive towards Tengenenge is no longer a mystic and meandering venture into a numinous village. It is now a rolling journey through a corrugated iron roofed establishment infested with earth-movers and roaring trucks that alternately go up and down the mountains in search of the precious mineral.
But that was the only notable difference surrounding Tengenenge. Everything else about the place still remains the same. The story-telling sculptures still imposingly stand on their stands and the stone-carvers are as busy as always with their hammers and chisels.
Despite the fact that the place has changed hands, the sculptors are still beaming with life and carve their pieces energetically.
Although the likes of second generation sculptors like Josia Manzi have relocated, the community still values its ways and traditions.
In spite of the deaths, many other sculptors and Amali Malula’s fading eyesight that has massively depleted his activity, the importance of spiritual guidance is still of sanctuary reverence. (Malula is the oldest sculptor at the centre).
Despite the roaring chrome trucks, the village somehow maintains its serene atmosphere.
According to the sculptors in this community, spiritual guidance has been a source of inspiration and passion in their everyday activities.
Regardless of many things that happen around them and within their community, supernatural powers always keep them together and spell harmony in the village.
More and more female sculptors have emerged while buyers keep flocking to the sculpture community of outstanding kinship.
