Tengenenge is a typical African village in the North of Zimbabwe, at the foot of the Great Dyke. The difference with other villages is the occupation of the inhabitants: they all make a living from sculpting.
The village is an open-air gallery. More than 11.000 sculptures are exhibited, made by over 300 different sculptors, each having their own style, performance and stand.
About a hundred sculptor families live in Tengenenge. Some families, like the family of Josiah and Janet Manzi, consist of 3 generations of sculptors.





Short history

 



1966
1966-1980

1968

1972-1980


1980


1989
1994
1995-2004
2005

Tengenge village was founded by Tom Blomefield, former tobacco farmer and chrome miner
economic sanctions on Zimbabwe by the United Nations and the Commonwealth, made life in Zimbabwe very difficult
first exhibition of Tengenenge artists in the National Galley in Harare, a big success: everything was sold
war between guerrilla groups, fighting for power
The only possibility to sell sculptures was to bring them to South Africa, a complex and dangerous operation in that time
Robert Mugabe becomes president of Zimbabwe and the war is over.
During the celebrations of independence many sculptures were sold to foreign journalists. After that it became very difficult again; Zimbabwe was very poor and no tourists came.
first exhibition in Europe: "beelden op de berg" in Wageningen, the Netherlands
large exhibition at Kasteel Groeneveld, Baarn, the Netherlands
exhibitions and sales all over the world
Although Zimbabwe is facing severe economic problems, and hardly any tourist is travelling to the country, Tengenenge still sells to galleries all over the world and survives.

 



Buying sculptures in Tengenenge

 



All sales are concluded by the sales department.
The sculptors receive the stone for free and have free living in Tengenenge. On sale, they pay 35% commission to Tengenenge for mining and other common expenses.
Prices can be negotiated with the sculptors. If a sculptor is not around somebody from the sales department will represent him. In case one wants to buy several sculptures it is wise to stick stickers with the buyer's name on the sculptures.
Tengenenge can take care of packing, transport to Harare and if requested also to the customer's home country (by an international transport company in Harare).