Rufaro Murenza

Rufaro was born in Zimbabwe in 1980. While doing his ‘O’ levels, he started working with world famous Zimbabwean sculptor Joe Mutasa, as his assistant at Chapungu Sculpture Park in Msasa, Harare. At Chapungu, he was exposed to the works of many artists, like Tapfuma Gutsa, Nicholas Mukomberanwa and Eddie Masaya.

In 1998 Rufaro attended a workshop in granite carving at Chapungu. From then on, he never looked back. Rufaro went to Belgium in 1998 for an exhibition with his mentor Joe Mutasa. It was highly successful and resulted in the sale of all their pieces and also secured many orders. After many years with Joe, Rufaro felt the time had come to strike out on his own so he joined the Chitungwiza Arts Centre to have his own workspace.

“At the moment it seems the sky is the limit. With many years of experience in carving, I am enjoying working independently.”

Rufaro was the deserving winner of the 3D sculpture category at the National Arts Merit Awards in 2016 and a finalist in 2014 and 2015.