Popular African garden art coming to DSBG

Art is a natural fit in a garden, and that is especially true of the sculptures of the Shona tribe of Zimbabwe. The artists carve images of people, animals or other objects from stones of this south central region of Africa. Those rock figures seem to be most at home when returned to nature, the inspiration for many of the pieces.
Shona sculpture is contemporary art for the garden, and collectors have appreciated it for decades here and abroad. Now it will be available in the Charlotte area for a time.
More than 100 sculptures will be part of an outdoor exhibit at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden. The pieces in the horticulture display and others will be for sale.

Two artists, Passmore Mupindiko and Patrick Sephani, will do demonstrations in a marketplace that is being set up near the garden’s Orchid Conservatory for the exhibition.
Grasses, hardy tropical plants and other species are being added to the garden beds to create an appropriate setting for the sculptures.
“We created a display design that represents a transition between the savannahs of that region of Africa and the mountainous rain forest,” said Jim Hoffman, a spokesman for the garden.

ZimSculpt:
African garden art

See the exhibit June 27 through Sept. 28 at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, 6500 S. New Hope Road, Belmont. Admission: $12 adults, $11 seniors 60+, and $6 children 4-12. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Contact: www.DSBG.org or 704-825-4490.

Karen’s blog: http://homelifeclt.blogspot.com; on Twitter @sullivan_kms