The price of neglect: 20 years of falling revenue in Zimbabwe’s stone sculpture industry

It’s hard to think of arts and culture in Zimbabwe without thoughts veering towards the country’s storied sculpture. Stone sculpture particularly feels tied to the very essence of being Zimbabwean with the Great Zimbabwe city housing eight soapstone birds that were discovered among its ruins.

“Although their precise significance is still unknown, these sculptures remain powerful symbols of rule in the modern era, adorning the flag of Zimbabwe as national emblems.” - Great Zimbabwe (11th–15th Century) | Met Museum

Given this backdrop, that (one of if not the outright) most expensive artwork sold in Zimbabwe was a stone sculpture sold for $4m by Dominic Benhura or that historically sculpture has been among Zimbabwe’s most profitable arts and culture exports seems quite fitting. In recent times, sculpting has consistently been one of the larger contributors:

From the above visual one would think Zimbabwean stone sculptors are sitting pretty but a closer look at the numbers paints a more complicated picture.