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1. The History Behind Chapungu Sculpture Park
Chapungu Sculpture Park was founded in 1970 by Roy Guthrie. Over the past 50+ years, the park and its patrons have managed to consolidate the world’s largest collection of authentic Zimbabwean stone sculptures. The sculptures live in various locations around the world, including Chapungu's Msasa location in Zimbabwe, Colorado in the United States, Heidelberg in Germany, and others.
There are certain pieces that are available for purchase. But there is also a set of pieces tthat patrons have no desire to sell, but rather, the permanent collection exists as a way of preserving Zimbabwean culture, and just as important, as a gift for the public to enjoy.
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2. Experiencing Tones & Stones
This year, the Park has been experimenting with different ways of fostering that enjoyment among visitors. This effort has included their well-known guided tours, a private multi-course meal experience in the centre of the Park, and most recently, the first edition of Tones & Stones.
Tones & Stones was a musical event held at Chapungu’s amphitheatre and the surrounding grassy areas. Throughout the afternoon, attendees enjoyed picnicing in the thick grass, eating treats made and sold by local vendors, wine, and live music coming from the stone slab stage.
Kundisai Mtero, a vocalist herself, acted as the musical director for the event. She led the audience through a series of jazz and opera pieces performed by various groups and individuals, sharing a short background for each song.
The liveliness of each performance did not take away even an ounce of the peace that was palpable throughout the venue, but rather, added bits of joy for the audience to hold on to.
By the time the event ended, very few attendees were ready to go. The afternoon's musicians ended up performing multiple encores.
3. Conclusion
From an audience member’s perspective, I would say that this event was a success. The Chapungu team did a wonderful job at curating an event worth attending, as well as on following through on the event-day.
From the small details like offering chairs for attendees who didn’t have picnic blankets to making sure the speakers were not too loud to being on-time with each aspect of the event, the team made sure that the event surpassed all expectations.
This intentional care of the artists, sculptures, grounds, and park visitors has served Chapungu well, and will continue to do so.
A special thank you to Chapungu Sculpture Park for the invitation to your event. I look forward to seeing how this next era of the Park will continue to take shape.
You can visit their official Instagram page for more pictures from the event, and the Movement official Instagram to view a video version of this experience.