Bettendorffsche Galerie Im Schlossgarten

Ask art historians or leading gallerists in Germany about contemporary African art and the answer, more often than not, is a shrug. Terms such as “folklore” and “wooden masks” come readily to hand; beyond that, very little follows. Freddy Freiherr von Bettendorff Escorsell counters this ignorance with a commitment that is entirely concrete.

Visiting EXPO 1992 in Seville, he was captivated by the stone sculptures from Zimbabwe on display there. The idea of presenting such works in Gauangelloch quickly took shape, and with the support of dedicated experts the gallery opened as early as 1993. Its sculpture park of Shona works now ranks among the largest collections of this art form anywhere in the world.

With no grounding in stone carving and no academic or artistic training, artistically gifted farm workers in Zimbabwe began in the 1960s to work the serpentine stone found in their country. Under the direction of the former farmer Tom Blomefield and the director of the National Gallery in Harare, they came together in workshops. What emerged was a movement known today as Shona sculpture – now spanning three generations and internationally recognised.

Animal forms such as big cats or baboons draw on Shona mythology, standing for bush spirits or for longed-for qualities such as power or benevolence. Only rarely are specific social or political experiences addressed – one such exception is the sculpture “Living with the Virus” by Joseph Muzondo on the terrace of the moated manor house, which confronts the Aids epidemic in Africa.

Beyond collecting alone, Freddy von Bettendorff and his gallery team pursue a further aim: “We want to lend a hand wherever it is a matter of freeing African art from the ethnological museums and showing it to an interested public.”

The gallery therefore shows not only artists of international standing – whose works command collectors’ prices running into six figures – but, time and again, works to be had from a few hundred euros. The aim is to encourage the development of contemporary African art and to make it accessible to a wide public.