About the Artist

Obert Obed Muringani was born in 1969 in Chivu one of the rural areas of Zimbabwe (what was then called Rhodesia). The word Chivu is the Shona (Shona is the mother tongue of northern Zimbabwe) word for soil, thus Obed thinks of himself as a son of the soil. Obed spent his early childhood years goat herding and developing his artistic talent. As a child, he marveled at the mountains, red soil and the hazy sunrises of the surrounding landscape, as he took his cattle and goats to graze. Mother Nature seemed to have created the perfect combination of fluid textural contrast and vivid colors. While his herds grazed, he would discover the rock paintings of the Sans Bushmen and stare at the messages left by a people who had long since migrated elsewhere. When Obed was not herding cattle and goats, he was often watching his Grandmother shape clay pots, detailing them precisely with corn husk, fingers and knives. He envied her ability to shape the earth with the light touch of her hands. Following his Grandmothers example, Obed decided to shape the earth with pictures. Using natural pigments from berries, charcoal, mud and anything else that would leave a mark, He began to paint.