Mai veMwedzi – Guardian of First Breath
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Mai veMwedzi embodies the sacred bond between mother and child as understood in Shona spirituality, where womanhood is both a physical and ancestral vessel of life. Carved in Sampson Kuvenguhwa’s pre–Dry Tree style, the sculpture carries the raw language of early Shona stone expression—simple, grounded, and deeply symbolic. The bowed head and enclosing form evoke protection, humility, and quiet strength, while the child rests within the mother’s embrace as if cradled by the ancestors themselves. The conical head form recalls ritual headgear and lunar symbolism, linking femininity to the moon, cycles of renewal, and spiritual continuity. This figure is not only a mother, but a guardian of lineage, breath, and becoming—an ancestral presence watching over life’s first fragile moments.Try it!
