A little piece of Zimbabwe in Beaconsfield

Zimbabwean sculptor and artist Arthur Manyengedzo smiled when reminiscing about his neighbour back home as he stood underneath the shade of a tree on the lawn of Beaconsfield Library.

"I will tell him everything that happened (here today)," he said, "and I hope he will be impressed too." Manyengedzo was speaking of the unveiling of a Shona sculpture, Sisterhood, a piece by his neighbour Tafunga Bonjisi, in front of the library a few moments ago.

The first piece of public art ever unveiled in Beaconsfield, Sisterhood is a gift from ZimArt, an annual Zimbabwean sculpture exhibition held in Beaconsfield in conjunction with Rice Lake Gallery in Bailieboro, Ontario.

"The African message, for me at least, is in the title, Sisterhood. Being a sister in the Zimbabwean culture is not just limited to blood relatives. Women become sisters to each other once trust has been built," said Fran Fearnley, curator of ZimArt and Rice Lake Gallery, as she prepared to present the statue to the small but enthusiastic group of onlookers in front of her.

Beaconsfield Mayor Bob Benedetti did the unveiling, revealing an abstract stone cobalt carving that vaguely recalls a woman's silhouette, as well as an upside-down musical note. "It says something from just about any angle," he remarked, highlighting how viewers from City Lane, directly across the sculpture, would see it one way, and those from Beaconsfield Boulevard, to its right, another.

Those who sit inside the library, at its reading area, will also have a back-view of Sisterhood.

Fearnley told The Chronicle she flies out to Zimbabwe every year to get a look at art being produced there for her gallery. Her passion for the Shona art form could be seen as she ran her fingers over the purposely uneven surface of the piece. The very top part, a semi-circular piece, was rougher and not hewn, whereas its central pillar was finished to the point of feeling like marble.

Benedetti said this would hopefully be the first in a line of public art pieces strewn about Beaconsfield.

Shona sculptures, made from the mixture of volcanic rocks unique in Zimbabwe among all African countries, are named as such based on the name of the largest tribe engaged in sculpting.

Chronicle, Raffy Boudjikanian