CHAPUNGU: STONE SCULPTURES SOAR AMONG THE BLOOMS

ST. LOUIS -- Though you know they're supposed to be there among the emerald flora and fauna and the shimmering fountains and pools at the Missouri Botanical Garden, the 66 stone sculptures from Africa take you by surprise.

Here is a mother and child, there is a female torso, there is a bird foreign to North America. They sit atop tree stumps and soar out of a knoll, visions evoking the familial, the spiritual and the natural. Some are grouped, others seem to magically appear as visitors round a bend on the paths that wind through the garden.

Ranging in height from 3 to 10 feet and weighing as much as 6,000 pounds, the sculptures are from the Chapungu Sculpture Park in Harare, Zimbabwe. In the Shona tribe, Chapungu is the name for a bird believed to ward off evil.

"Chapungu Custom and Legend: A Culture in Stone" continues through Oct. 7 at the Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Blvd. in St. Louis. The exhibit is the first of its size of Zimbabwean sculpture seen in the United States.

Most of the sculptures are by members of the Shona tribe, who have a tradition of creating sculpture from natural stone. These works of art representing the most difficult of visual art forms were created by people with no formal training in the arts. Some of the artists never attended any kind of school. After Zimbabwe won its independence in 1980, the 15-acre sculpture park was founded to preserve the works of art.

Among the 26 artists represented are 73-year-old Joram Mariga and 27-year-old Jonathan Mhondorohuma. One of Mariga's most famous works is titled "Communicating with the Earth Spirits." The exhibition documentation claims that Mhondorohuma is "unafraid of the hardest stone."

The Chapungu sculptures have been exhibited at botanical gardens in South Africa and Europe, most recently near London at the Royal Botanic Gardens.

The garden's Kemper Center for Home Gardening is selling original stone sculptures by artists trained at Chapungu Sculpture Park. Guided tours are available. For information, phone (800) 642-8842.

Some of the Zimbabwean artists will offer five-day sculpture workshops during the summer. Breakfasts and luncheons with the artists also will be offered. For information about sculpture workshops, breakfasts and luncheons, phone (314) 577-5125.