When the pandemic first hit the world, Zimbabwean stone sculptor David Ngwerume took his hammer and chisel and started work on the first of a collection of Covid-inspired pieces. Almost two years and 14 sculptures later, one has made its way to China after being selected for the ninth Beijing International Art Biennale, an exhibition showcasing work from thousands of artists from more than 100 countries. The piece, Unto the Third Wave, depicts a woman receiving a vaccine for Covid-19 from a pair of suspended hands. Ngwerume created it in June last year, just before a third wave of the pandemic hit the country. “When I heard a third wave was coming, I called it Unto the Third Wave. I was encouraging people – let’s get vaccinated, let’s get ready for everything that is coming, and for variants,” he says. The idea for the Covid collection was born in the early stages of the pandemic, when Ngwerume found himself thinking about what people were experiencing and how to reflect that through his art.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
