Born in 1977 in Nyanga, (the eastern highlands) Zimbabwe.

Tonderai is the fifth born of a family of seven and all of his three brothers are sculptors.  His totem is dziva (hippo).
From an early age, Tonderai showed an inclination towards sculpting.  Following his education, he began to sculpt under the tutelage of Gideon Nyanhongo in 1995.  For the next two years, Tonderai learned the fundamentals of stone carving, showing definite signs of originality and individual style in his work. He works mostly in springstone but occasionally creates works in lemon opal.
Over the last few years (2000-2004), because of his increased international presence, Tonderai?s work has been widely received by many.  As of late, he was commissioned by the Zimbabwe International Film Festival to design awards.  Tonderai perceives stone carving as an exercise through the imagination of the sculptor to represent one?s spirit.  He enjoys depicting his traditional Shona culture as it applies to everyday life experiences.  His subject matter of elegant ladies and of ballet dancers, clearly express individual characters ?some are defiant and impatient, some pleasing, and some are coy.

 His work has been shown at Chapungu Sculpture Park?s large exhibitions held in Kirstenbosch, Cape Town in 2000 and Kew Gardens, London, UK in 2001. Tonderai?s sculpture collections have been exhibited in group shows in Netherlands, UK, USA, Germany, Australia, South Africa and Singapore.  He was a resident artist at Gallery 2000 from 1996 to 1997 and also at Chapungu Sculpture Park from 1998 to 2000.