Colleen Madamombe was born in 1964 in Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe) and received her secondary education at school in Kutama, between 1979 and 1984. She obtained a Diploma in Fine Arts at the BAT Workshop School of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe from 1985–1986. Her work add new dimension to the complexity of Zimbabwean stone sculpture through her commitment to a theme. Madamombe uses her technical and artistic skills to highlight the special qualities of Shona woman, as well as to communicate the inequities that affect their lives and status. Madamombe’s subject matter is deeply rooted in the traditional role of Shona women. Her powerful images, their energy and movement, the contrast of the rough and polished parts of the stone, make Madamombe’s stone sculpture some of Zimbabwe’s most dynamic. She represents the voice of a new generation of Zimbabwean women.¹
