Shamuyarira’s sculptures are characterized by a respect for the shape of the stone. The characteristic shape is a rounded softness with human forms being suggested rather than clearly defined.
Born in 1962 in the Chinhoyi District of Zimbabwe, Norbert Shamuyarira began sculpting at the age of 17 after a chance encounter with the late Bernard Takawira, one of the giants of the first generation Zimbabwean sculptors.
For four years Shamuyarira worked with Takawira; since 1984 he has lived and worked on his own. Shamuyarira has developed his different styles and subject matters all along the way till today. In the last couple of years, Norbert Shamuyarira has worked out pieces of art with much humour and joy of life. Dancing girls with skirts whirling around them, sometimes in a near cartoon like style – buttons on the dress and the eyes in the face stand out because the artist has chosen to leave them raw, so they appear white (grey, as it is), in contrast to the black polished stone surrounding them. Or he creates a large head with a mouth protruded for a kiss—and kisses it, posing for a photo. Norbert Shamuyarira works permanently in Ruwa.