Tapfuma Gutsa
(b. 1956) Zimbabwe
The Story
Born in1956 in Harare, Zimbabwe, Gutsa studied at St. Ignatius College in Chishawasha, Zimbabwe (1970-73), at Driefontein Mission School, Zimbabwe (1978-79), and in 1982, studied woodcarving under Cornelius Manguma as the first 1st recipient of the British Council Arts Award in Zimbabwe, and at the City and Guilds London School of Art, London, U.K. with a British Council Scholarship (1982-85).
In the early 1980s Gutsa founded and organized the Utonga Art Gtoup in Tafara, Harare, Zimbabwe.
And, in 1988, he created the first of a series of Pachipamwe Workshops, under the Triangle arts model, bringing together younger and more established artists to explore new directions for Zimbabwean art.
He went on to establish the Surprise studios in 1997, providing studio space for a generation of Zimbabwean artists.
In 1990, his work was included in Grace Stanislaus’ seminal exhibition African Artists: Changing Traditions at the Studio Museum, Harlem, and he has since participated in numerous international exhibitions, workshops and residency programs.
Since 2005 he has been a member of the Offene Keramikwerstatt in Vienna, Austria, and currently lives and works in Vienna, and continues to explore the physical and metaphorical possibilities of a range of natural materials, from granite and oak, to horn, egg shell, bone and clay.
