Known simply as "Henry", he is one of the most famous sculptors in Zimbabwe. Educated in the Shona tradition of his father, he inherited certain of his magical talents. But his traditional education was at the expense of another training. Henry was entirely selftought and he spoke english very poorly. Born in 1931, he became successively a herd boy, an apprentice carpenter, a farm worker and many other various occupations. It is only at age of 36 that he discovered, by accident, the world of the stone, through the "Tengenenge" community created by the white farmer Tom Bloomfield. Interested by the matter, but having no technical base, Henry did not waste time in becoming one of the stars of this community of sculptors. His style, the purity of his lines and the rigour of his work, led the former farmer to have exhibitions all over the world. The Museum of Modern Art in Paris, the Rodin Museum, but also London, New York, Sydney, Frankfurt, have hosted Henry's Work. He participated in a total of 70 expositions, up until the Biennal in Venice in 1992 and the exposition "Les Magiciens de la Terre" at Beaubourg center in Paris. Henry died in his farm in April 1998 at the age of 67.

Coming from the peasant world, the three Takawira brothers, John, Bernard and Lazarus, became sculptors. John, the oldest, was the first, at age of 20, to enter into contact with the world of stone. This meeting took place due to his oncle Joram Mariga, the first "student" of Frank Mc Ewen. In 1961, John became a member of the "Vukutu" community, a workshop created in the open air several years earlier by Mc Ewen.
As young boys, the Takawira brothers spent a lot of time with their mother who marked them significantly. This strong woman, keeper of the Shona traditions, left an indelible imprint on her sons. Her presence is most visible in John's work. In his mother image and strong personality, the sculptor, for whom the women is a predilection, represents them sometimes proud, angry, timid, but always with a never ending neck which makes them inaccessible. John Takawira died in 1989, but his works are found among the greatest contemporary collections, such as Prince Charles of England and the Rockefellers.

Like his brother John, Bernard Takawira was initiated to sculpture in the Vukutu community created by Mc Ewen. But stifled by the creative power and aura of his brother, he preferred in the beginning to stay away from the stone and devote himself to his studies in agronomy. Until independence, he was an agricultural advisor and sculpted only during his free time. But in 1980, he decided finally, to take up the hammer and chisel to launch himself in his personal way, excluding all compromises. Rejecting ethnic cliches, he developed an art that was volontarily modern, and whose only reference to its original culture is the respect for the stone. Bernard Takawira received several times the first prize of the "National Gallery", and prizes from many large international expositions. He also taught sculpture to several numerous young artists, including his brother Lazarus and Norbert Shamuyarira. Bernard Takawira died in 1997.

Born in 1958 at Guruve, Brighton Sango is part of the second generation of sculptors. Initiated by Bernard Matemara at Tengenenge (like Henry Munyaradzi), Brighton Sango represents one of the paradoxes of contemporary sculpture in Zimbabwe. All his work is abstract. One does not find in it any faces or human form. Only mass and its balance seems to have interested the sculptor. Shona myths have been replaced by a form of "original cubism", which have nothing to do with his traditional or ethnic culture. A solitary and tormented worker, Brighton also tried to distance himself continously from the label "Shona", which he refused to carry. He committed suicide and died in 1995.

Zimbabwe Stone Sculpture - Marion Arnold - Bulawayo, 1986
Myth and Magic, the art of the Shona of Zimbabwe - Joy Kuhn - 1978
Shona Sculpture - Fernando Mor - Harare, 1987
Life in Stone - Olivier Sultan - Baobab books - Harare, 1992
Stone Sculpture in Zimbabwe - Celia Winter-Riving - Roblaw Publisher - Harare, 1991