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WATSON CHIRUME

(1962, Tengenenge, Zimbabwe)

Watson Chirume belongs to Nzou Samanyanga (the elephant totem) of the Kore Kore tribe. Due to financial difficulties, he left school at an early age and he began working at Munjanji farm as an assistant farm mechanic, and then later spent several years working as a store cashier.
In 1988, he was employed as a tractor driver at a farm in Tengenenge, He was curious about sculptures that were produced at Tengenenge Arts Community and decided to pursue his dreams of sculpting elephants. While continuing his work, he spent his spare time learning how to sculpt, under the tutelage of Lovemore Mutasa. Eventually, due to land reforms in Zimbabwe, he was forced to leave the farm and he relocated to Tengenenge Arts Community to became a full time artist. He is married, and he and his wife Ririna Manyana have three children.
Watson’s work is mainly focusing on wildlife including elephants and tortoises but he has created some figurative sculptures of a “Lovers” theme. He sculpts in a variety of locally sourced stone indigenous to Zimbabwe.

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