Twisted-wire junk-sculpture automata from Zimbabwe

By at 5:14 am Sunday, Mar 8

From the It Takes a Village blog, an account of Zimbabwean artist Dexter Nyamainashe, whose twisted-wire junk-sculpture automata are fabulous, political and controversial:

Dexter Nyamainashe of Chiweshe, Zimbabwe is aged 41 and six years ago he started combining various art pieces he made to create what he describes as a "Global Village of Peace". He uses scrap material to make little figures, minature homes and scenes which come alive when he rotates a piece of wire behind the art piece. The minatures move, they cook, they wash laundry, they play, they smoke a joint, they look for cattle etc... The animals fly, they run, they eat and they kill...

Dexter says he has had a difficult time promoting his art locally for the following reasons:

a) The local city council has called his art nonsense and refused to give him a license to operate. He has been chased away and even arrested for "illegal" vending.
b) Locals are spooked by his "Global Village". He says some people think it might be related to witchcraft so he has to explain to them by demonstrating how it works.
c) He used to work with the local art gallery but their commission was too high leaving him with very little.
d) He managed to gain the support of a local shop owner who tells the city council that Dexter is part of their own store display. This means he can display his work free of charge, avoid police harassment and avoid costly flea market charges.

Meet Dexter Nyamainashe - A Truly Gifted Artist (via Afrigadget)

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