Charles Mwanza says he got into this trade through his grandfather who used to make sculptures at his village. He has been working as a sculptor for more than 36 years now and has always worked in wood. Since he started in this trade he prefers working on Musembe and Mukwa wood because the wood is very strong and natural.
He sells his work at the Avani Resort village market curio but this year there have been few tourists. He is married with four children and depends on his art to keep his family. This has become very difficult in 2020.
A lot has changed because of his art as he has managed to build the house for his family. A highlight in his career was when he use to advertise his work at the Art Café and was interviewed on ZNBC. He expects to benefit even more through this project because he will receive the large amount of money which will empower him to buy some tools for his own to use.
“I selected the theme Traditional Master Drum because it is an African traditional instrument and I feel this theme is very important because it has brought happiness in people’s lives when it has been played.”
The drum is a sculpture made from Rosewood. It is a Zambian drum used for all traditional cultural dances and ceremonies. It is a creator drum which means it creates the dance and controls the rest of the drums.
It is decorated with two masks and two huts; the masks depict Gule Wamukulu and the huts depict our traditional village. Flat red hot bars are used to produce the black colour decoration and a loop of cowhide is used for easy carrying.
The unique sound is produced by the cow skin and to prevent the drum from being eaten by insects, it is smeared with beeswax.
“I feel great for my work to be erected at the Civic Centre because everyone will see my Art work”.
