Tutani Mgabazi was born in 1975 in Guruve, northern Zimbabwe. He is the second in a family of eight. At primary school, his favourite lessons were art and craft. In the school holidays, he would visit his uncle Francis Mugavazi, a well-known sculptor, who taught him how to sculpt. At twelve, Tutani had his first customers; by thirteen, Tutani’s father realised his son’s talent and bought him his first tools. Later, he introduced Tutani to Tom Blomefield, the founder of the Tengenenge Sculpture Community.

While he was still at secondary school, Tutani’s pieces had already been displayed in the National Gallery of Zimbabwe. So when he left school in 1992, he went straight into being a sculptor. He staged a joint exhibition together with his uncle Luke Mugavazi in 1993, which marked the start of his career as a professional sculptor.

Selected Group Exhibitions include:

• Represented Zimbabwe at the International Sculpture Symposium, Obernkirchen, Germany (2000, 2006 & 2015)
• Joint exhibition with his wife, Town Hall, Kingston, Ontario, sponsored by Earth to Spirit Art Gallery (2009)
• Two-man exhibition with Luke Mugavazi, Ramambo Lodge Gallery, Harare, Zimbabwe (1993)

There are more super sculptures by Tutani Mgabazi available through our other company, Guruve, a web gallery based in the UK.
Click on the link to see Guruve’s Tutani Mgabazi pieces.

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