Nicholas Mukomberanwa

International exhibitions, in which Nicholas's sculptures were included, up until Frank McEwen's resignation as museum director in 1973, are listed below.

• 1964 International Art Exhibition, Lusaka
• 1965 New Arts from Rhodesia, Commonwealth Arts Festival, Royal Festival Hall, London
• 1968 Rhodesian Sculpture, toured South Africa
• 1969 Contemporary African Arts, Camden Arts Centre, London.
• 1970 Sculptures Contemporaine de Vukutu, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
• 1971 Sculpture Contemporaine des Shonas d’Afrique, Musée Rodin, Paris
• 1972 Shona sculptures of Rhodesia, ICA Gallery, London

Mukomberanwa was a central part of the early "Shona sculpture Movement". During the early years of growth, the nascent "Shona sculpture movement" was described as an art renaissance, an art phenomenon and a miracle. Critics and collectors could not understand how an art genre had developed with such vigour, spontaneity and originality in an area of Africa which had none of the great sculptural heritage of West Africa and had previously been described in terms of the visual arts as artistically barren.[6][7][8][9]

In the period 1965–1980, Nicholas's work, together with the works from other leading members from the Workshop School such as Sylvester Mubayi, Joram Mariga and Joseph Ndandarika were an integral part of the Shona Sculpture Movement. The "first generation" of new Shona sculptors were given international exposure despite the sanctions being imposed on Southern Rhodesia thanks to McEwen. Three of the early works three by Nicholas and the works of many of the first generation artists, are now in the McEwen bequest to the British Museum.[4]

Mukomberanwa's sculptures showed human forms at various levels of abstraction and sometimes depicted animals, birds or spiritual feelings; most were highly polished, although in a few cases he would contrast smooth sections with areas of great roughness. He worked primarily in hard stone, using local materials such as opal stone, cobalt stone and other serpentines, especially a local variant called springstone found at Tengenenge.

Celia Winter-Irving said of Nicholas[8]

"Unlike many other sculptors, Mukomberanwa speaks from personal experience rather than recounting what he has heard or been told. To him beliefs must be personally held rather than customarily observed. Over the years, his work has shown a sense of the increasing spiritual support which has sustained his art."

In June–July 1993, Nicholas was joined by his four sons Anderson (born 1968), Malachia (born 1970), Tendai (born 1974) and Lawrence (born 1976) in presenting an exhibition of their sculpture at the Chapungu Sculpture Park, Harare.[10]

By the end of the millennium, Mukomberanwa's reputation was further enhanced by the many exhibitions in which his work was displayed. Some of these are listed below. Later in his career, he slowed his production of art to enjoy farming and cattle ranching on the Ruwa farm. He produced less, creating more personal sculptures and slowing down the pace of his life considerably.

• 1974 African Artist Festival, Chicago, USA
• 1978 God's Men and beasts, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
• 1981 Art in Action Festival, Waterperry, UK
• 1981 Art from Africa, Commonwealth Institute, London, UK
• 1983 Stein Skulpturen aus Zimbabwe, Frankfurt, Germany
• 1984 Shona Sculpture, Pulchri Studio, The Hague, Netherlands
• 1984 Plazzotta Studio, Chelsea, London, UK
• 1985 Kustchatze aus Zimbabwe, Frankfurt, Germany
• 1985 Zimbabwean Stone Sculpture, Kresge Art Museum, Michigan State University, USA
• 1985 and 1987 Contemporary Stone Sculpture, Irving Sculpture Gallery, Sydney, Australia
• 1986 Africa Centre, London, London, UK
• 1986-8 Soul in Stone, Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, Australia
• 1986 Moderne Skulpturen aus Zimbabwe, Vienna, Austria
• 1987 Contemporary Stone Sculpture from Zimbabwe, Barbican Centre, London, UK
• 1987 Zimbabwe Heritage, UNESCO, Paris, France
• 1987 African Influence Gallery, Boston, USA
• 1989 Zimbabwe op de Berg, Foundation Beelden op de Berg, Wageningen, The Netherlands
• 1989 Shona Sculpture, Robert Steele Gallery, Adelaide, Australia
• 1990 Honorable Mention, African Sculpture Exhibition, Venice Biennale, Italy
• 1990 Contemporary African Artists - Changing Tradition, Studio Museum New York City, USA
• 1990 Contemporary Stone Carving from Zimbabwe, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, UK
• 1990 One-Person Exhibition, Auckland, New Zealand
• 1990 Stone Sculpture from Zimbabwe, Millesgården Museum, Stockholm, Sweden
• 1992 Shona Sculpture International Symposium, Tokyo, Japan
• 1993 Nicholas and Family, Chapungu Sculpture Park, Harare, Zimbabwe
• 2000 Chapungu: Custom and Legend – A Culture in Stone, Kew Gardens, UK
• 2004 Retrospective, Zuva Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA

Some of Mukomberanwa's exhibition pieces, such as The Greedy One (1985) and The Corrupting Power of Money (1985), have toured worldwide; for example to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in 1990,[11] where the works on display included examples from all the artists who had contributed to the 1971 Musée Rodin exhibition. The catalogue "Chapungu: Culture and Legend – A Culture in Stone" for the exhibition at Kew Gardens in 2000 depicts Nicholas's sculptures My Experience (Springstone, 1992) on p. 58-59, Man in a Trance (Springstone, 1987) on p. 92-93, Women of Wisdom (Opal stone, 1987) on p. 102-103 and The Corrupting Power of Money (Limestone, 1985) on p. 114-115.[12]

Mukomberanwa's works are in the collections are at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe as well as the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, the Indianapolis Museum of Art[13] and the British Museum.[4][8] The Atlanta Airport's Zimbabwean sculpture Exhibit, "A Tradition in Stone" in Atlanta Georgia holds Nzuzu the Water Spirit (green serpentine stone).[14]