Born in 1962 in the Chinhoyi District of Zimbabwe, Norbert Shamuyarira began sculpting at the age of 17 after a chance encounter with the late Bernard Takawira, one of the giants of the first generation Zimbabwean sculptors.

For four years Shamuyarira worked with Takawira; since 1984 he has lived and worked on his own. Shamuyarira has developed his different styles and subject matters all along the way till today. In the last couple of years, Norbert Shamuyarira has worked out pieces of art with much humour and joy of life. Dancing girls with skirts whirling around them, sometimes in a near cartoon like style – buttons on the dress  and the eyes in the face stand out because the artist has chosen to leave them raw, so they appear white (grey, as it is), in contrast to the black polished stone surrounding them. Or he creates a large head with a mouth protruded for a kiss—and kisses it, posing for a photo. Norbert Shamuyarira works permanently in Ruwa.

Shamuyarira’s sculptures, like those of Takawira, are characterized by a respect for the shape of the stone. His sculptures are rarely opened up or deeply carved. The characteristic shape is a rounded softness with human forms being suggested rather than clearly defined.

Family tragedies have profoundly influenced much of Shamuyarira’s work, which frequently has themes that relate to human relationships. A native of Chinhoyi, Shamuyarira lost his mother at the age of nine. Soon after her death, his father deserted the family. His brother later committed suicide. He started sculpting in 1979, working for four years with Bernard Takawira in Chitungwiza. The pieces are an artistic response to deeply felt emotions. Through his sculpture, Shamuyarira has discovered an eloquent and lasting means of self-expression. Feelings of sadness and insecurity often are present in his work, as evidenced not only by the sculptural forms he creates but also by their titles: The Sufferer, Sad Widow, Too Shy For this World, Born to Cry.

Shamuyarira has instinctively shown an acute awareness of the qualities of his chosen medium. “Let stone be stone,” is a time-honored tradition of great carver-sculptors from Michelangelo to Brancusi to Moore, and it is a tradition to which Shona sculptors such as Shamuyarira remain ever faithful.