Chitungwiza Art Centre
There are many sculpting cooperatives in Zimbabwe.
The system is appealing for a number of reasons. When a group of artists come together in this way they are not only able to share the financial burdens of sculpting full time but they can feed off each others' inspirations and talents.
Due to this, many succesful artists have started their careers in such establishments.
How do they work?
Generally the artists operate independantly in terms of their sculpting techniques and their equipment, but pay a percentage of their turnover to the cooperative which covers rent and other incidentals.
In return they usually operate from larger more public venues with a number of artists which is much more appealing to the buyers and collectors of Shona art.
In other words it gives them a better opportunity to be discovered and a more regular flow of purchasers and investors.