​Contemporary South African Art

Mungandaire, Christopher

Chris Mungandaire was born in Nyanga in 1988. The last born of a family of eight, Chris started sculpting at the age of 14 when he was still in school. Simon Chidharara, a former artist-in-residence with ZimArt, was his most important mentor. “Simon is a wonderful artist,” Chris explains, “and he taught me to have confidence in my vision. He also encouraged me to stay in school.”

At age 16 Chris sold his first sculpture to a dealer from the US and, encouraged by this success, he never looked back.

In 2006 Chris was invited to join the Nyanga Art Centre, a small, dynamic arts cooperative, and he now works alongside 20 other sculptors. He enjoys sharing ideas with his fellow artists who he says have so much to teach him. Inspired by the colourful serpentines found in this region and by beauty of the environ-ment, Chris says his sculptures are all about everyday life and women in partic-ular. He observes: “I feel lucky to have found what he was meant to do in life.”

Chris’ gentle, contemplative sculptures have sold to collectors and galleries in the US, South Africa, Germany, the UK, The Netherlands and Canada.
ZimArt has represented Christopher in Canada since 2008.

www.zimart.com