It was the positive reaction to having his work displayed at Clare Hall, Cambridge at the turn of the century, alongside that of his late father, Claud Nyanhongo (1934-2019), that made Zimbabwean sculptor Euwitt Nyanhongo believe he may have a future here.
Euwitt subsequently moved to the area in August 2024 and now lives in Haverhill with his family. He works on his sculptures at a studio in Glisson Road, Cambridge.
“I learned from my father, who was one of the sculpture pioneers [in Zimbabwe],” explains Euwitt, who is from the Shona people, who are renowned for their work in stone.
“We’re a big family and most of us are sculptors, and just because I grew up in it, that’s how I started it.”
Euwitt, whose father even owned a quarry in Zimbabwe, says he started sculpting at around the age of 10.
“As a kid, you’re always playing around with your father’s tools,” he notes, “but full-time sculpting I started in 1993 when I finished my O-levels.
“Because I realised that I had the talent to do that, I decided not to do other things, but to do sculpting full time.”
Much of Euwitt’s heartfelt work depicts people and animals. “It’s portraying the Shona people and the way I grew up,” he says, “because my father used to have so much cattle, almost more than 800, and goats, sheep, dogs…
“I used to take dogs to herd the cattle and I also used to go hunting, so I got an attachment to animals and good memories [of them].”
Euwitt’s work was exhibited, alongside that of his father’s, at Clare Hall in 1999 and 2000, and he came over with his father to visit.
He remembers that their sculptures were “well received”. What else made him decide to move here all these years later?
“A friend of mine offered me somewhere to stay,” he replies, “and I was not paying rent – they wanted me to settle first. That’s why I later moved to Haverhill.”
The dedicated artist, who also works at Addenbrooke’s Hospital as a housekeeper, is hoping to exhibit some of his work again soon in the city, and is busy looking at possible venues.
“Last year, from May to the end of September, I was exhibiting in Surrey, at Denbies Vineyard Hotel,” reveals Euwitt, who has also had his art displayed on a number of occasions in his native Zimbabwe.
For more on Euwitt Nyanhongo, and to suggest a potential site for him to exhibit his sculptures, go to euwittnyanhongo.com.
