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Simon Chidharara

ABOUT SCULPTOR

Artist Bio

Simon Chidharara was born in 1980 in Mutare in Nyanga, a beautiful mountainous region with a strong sculpting tradition located near the Mozambique border. He started sculpting at the age of 11, apprenticing with his older brother Kenneth, who is also represented by ZimArt. Simon completed his secondary education before deciding that he wanted to pursue his passion for carving full time. Learning is still important to him and he is voracious reader. “Any topic interests me,” he says. “Geography, history, science all influence human life and I like to find out more about what makes us do the things we do, and feel the way we feel.” Simon is one of the founding members of the Nyanga Arts Centre, a co-operative venture run by local artists in the Nyanga region. Having relocated to Chitungwiza following his residency with ZimArt in 2007, Simon is no longer a full time member but he remains connected to the Centre and still travels to Nyanga on a regular basis. He says the stone from the region is itself a vital source of inspiration to him and that he will always remain close to his rural roots. Indeed a strong influence in Simon's work is the natural world and man's connection to birds and animals. When he came to Canada in 2007 Simon was the first third-generation artist from the Nyanga region to travel overseas to represent himself and present his work directly to an international audience. He has long been popular with Canadian collectors who are drawn to the expressive range in his sculptures and the emotional depth. Simon's subjects are frequently women or “feminine spirits,” which are sometimes represented as mythical creatures. “Women are the centre of life,” he explains, “So I like to celebrate everything about them.” Simon has participated in several group exhibitions at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Mutare. His work has been bought by galleries and collectors from Holland, the UK, the US, South Africa, Canada and Germany. Simon Chidharara is represented in Canada exclusively by ZimArt.

Phone: 705-939-6144
Email: zimart@sympatico.ca

Installed Sculptures

Land Acknowledgment

We would like to acknowledge that we are located on ancestral lands, the traditional territory of the Mississauga Anishinaabe covered by the Williams Treaties. This area, known to the Anishinaabe as “Gidaaki”, has been inhabited for thousands of years – as territories for hunting, fishing, gathering and growing food.


For thousands of years Indigenous people have been the stewards of this place. The intent and spirit of the treaties that form the legal basis of Canada bind us to share the land “for as long as the sun shines, the grass grows and the rivers flow”.

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To find out more about all of the extraordinary things to see and do in the Haliburton Highlands in every season click here!

Location:

297 College Drive
Haliburton, ON K0M 1S0
Tel:

(705) 457-3555

Email:

info@haliburtonsculptureforest.ca

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© 2023 Haliburton Sculpture Forest

Images © 2021 Kristy L. Bourgeois | Youkie Stagg | Angus Sullivan | Noelle Dupret Smith | Teodora Vukosavljevic | Nadia Pagliaro

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