STANFORD DERERE

Born in Chapeyama Village, Mokosa Motoko

Stanford Derere sculpts birds in a myriad of ways, birds in their nests, birds searching the ground for their food with their beaks, birds in that uncertain stage in space, ready to fly. The birds he makes from his stones are the birds which are seen in Zimbabwe, and some all over the world. He has studied his subject well and from close quarters. The birds are often assemblages of stone, wood and metal, the outcome of a Foundation Course at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe BAT Art Workshop. The use of metal allows a swallow to stand on one leg, serves as an armature for the neck of a guinea fowl. Derere is also a print maker and a painter.

Derere, now in his 40s, was born in a rural area of Zimbabwe where birds were part of his every day life and what he saw around him. The mating calls and habits of birds are familiar to Derere, their nesting ways, their preparations for flight, their descent from the sky and the way they eat and drink. All these things come into his sculptures of birds. He is also able to see a bird through the eyes of a bird lover, telescopically.

Stanford Derere works today at the Studio of Dominic Benhura in the suburbs of Harare.
Here from a myriad of stones piled one on top of the other he is able to sketch the birds he sees around him, and realize his sketches on the stones. His birds are appreciated by those who love the sculpture outside of Zimbabwe, largely bird lovers who see something of their own love for birds