Letwin Mugavazi

Born into a family of prominent sculptors in Guruve, Letwin Mugavazi is one of the few mid-career women sculptors in Zimbabwe. As a young artist, her mentors were Obert Nyamupapira, whom she later married, and Francis Mugavazi, who taught many of the Guruve-based artists including the late, great Brighton Sango.

The Mugavazi family own a number of springstone (a hard black serpentine stone) mines. Letwin, unlike many budding sculptors, learnt to sculpt using springstone and this familiarity shines through in her work.

In January 2004, Letwin was given an Award Of Merit in the Woman Sculptor competition. In 2005, she won the African Millennium Foundation's Fellowship for the Most Promising Artist, which included being Resident Artist at the National Gallery in Harare, Zimbabwe.

She was also guest Artist In Residence at the 'In Praise Of Women III' group exhibitions in London and Toronto. Her work was included in the IPOW1 and IPOW2 exhibitions that visited Oxford, London, Denmark, Sweden and Canada in 2003 and 2004.