Andamiyo Chihota was born in 1976 in Chitungwiza. His family later moved to Guruve, a rural region with a rich stone-sculpting tradition, where he started carving at the age of 13. He attributes his father, Luke Chihota, with sparking and nurturing his talent. Andamiyo was also inspired by the late Henry Munyaradzi, one of the founders of the Shona art movement, who he visited regularly as a young boy. After he left school Andamiyo began an apprenticeship with his cousin Edronce Rukodzi (an internationally acclaimed sculptor) who introduced him to the Tengenenge Art Colony. By the age of 17 he was carving full time.
Andamiyo finds inspiration from a number of sources and has become most well-known for his birds, animals and his depictions of the Shona people. ‘My sculptures show my respect for the African wildlife and for the cultural values of the people,’ he explains. He selects his stone with great care, favouring the exceptionally beautiful fruit serpentine from one particular mine near Guruve.
Andamiyo's sculptures bear his distinctive artistic signature — delicately decorated eyes. Eyes, he explains, express what is inside — as they look out on the world. His work is expressive, contemplative and beautifully crafted. He talks about finding the ‘balance’ in a piece of stone and of the importance of detail in the finishing.
Although Andamiyo is still a member of the Tengenenge Art Colony, he has relocated to Harare in order to provide more exposure for his work. There he works alongside his older brother, Singi, and two cousins, in an urban outdoor studio.
In 2002 he was invited to Germany by Sankt Andreasberg, where he participated in a group exhibition and gave sculpting workshops. He has participated in several major group shows of Shona sculpture most notably at the Museum of Fine Arts in San Diego, California. His sculptures have sold to collectors in Holland, Germany, Belgium, the UK the US and Canada. He is represented by Sankaranka Gallery in New York City.
Andamiyo traveled to Canada in 2006 as the guest artist-in-residence for Shona D’Afrique II in Montreal and for Rice Lake VII, the seventh annual outdoor exhibition of Shona sculpture hosted by ZimArt. He also led a sculpting workshop at the Rice Lake Gallery, which was enthusiastically received by his students.
Andamiyo spent the summer of 2008 in Germany. He led a workshop at Skulpturengalerie Sylt on Sylt, an island in the Northern Sea and in Franconia at two other galleries: Into Africa, close to Nurnberg, and Atlier Rapp in Obervolkach. He was a nominee and was awarded the certificate of Merit for outstanding three dimensional work by the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NAC) in 2016.
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