A lot of European and North-American artists look at African art as primitive and simple. Here they forget that there are African roots in most art movements they call modern. Because of the poor economic position Zimbabweans are living in, artists depend on the sales to customers from abroad. This has lead to a very fast development of different styles in art, but the methodes they use are still the same as they used to be a long time ago. Tghat is why Zimbabwean art is so recognizable. Because there is an abundance of beautifull differend colored stone in Zimbabwe, stone has become a popular matherial for artists.
To help each other, artists started artists' communities. At these communities, they could cut costs of transport, materials and tools, but to sell they needed to develope their own style, or specialize in a particular object. A healthy competition made them to develope their own style, with the signature of their predecessors.
This site is made to make it possible for artists to show themselves to a wider audience. Artists can have a biography on this site and show pictures of their work. They can show pieces that they are very proud of, or pieces that show their styles, even pieces that they want to sell are possible.
Information is the main activity of this site, but for the artists selling is of vital importance, that is why there is a commercial part as well. At the site there are objects with a target price, all the prices are open to bids. We have been very serious in calculating the target prices, so bids that are not serious, will not be accepted. Please take into account that you need to pay shipping costs, and for a lot of countries there will be additional taxes to be payed. The pieces that are still in Zimbabwe, and offered by the artists themselves, will have a lower price, but the shipping and packaging costs will be much higher. Of course the delivery will take more time as well, by boat is cheaper, but will take a long time, by plane will be much more expensive, but faster. All prices will be agreed before purchase, to avoid problems later.