Some of you may recognise Dexter Mpofu, who displays his art at the entrance to Elephant Walk shopping centre at Vic Falls. Dexter has taken wire art to another level, making intricate exhibits with moveable parts that tell a story.
Dexter’s artistic journey with wire sculptures began simply when he started to make children’s toys in 1994. He easily mastered the mechanics of men cycling, by turning a handle, and decided to use the same method to make other moveable forms. Next he made a woman pounding grain. The sculptures were so popular that he added a woman sieving flour. People loved the new art. Before long he was adding more and more figures until he had an African village with people from all over Africa engaged in activities like drumming, chopping wood and grinding peanuts. He continued to create innovative and colourful exhibits of people and animals that come to life as Dexter turns the handle.
In his Vic Falls exhibit people bungee jump from the bridge, two lions catch a zebra and an elephant pulls down a tree. His Europe and Asia exhibit includes a woman taking a shower, someone reading a book and people having lunch. “How do you put the world in a sculpture?” Dexter wondered. Before long he had a global village.
Dexter’s philosophy on life mirrors his art of putting the world together. “We should be united,” he says. “We need to stop hurting and killing each other and live together as one.”