Zimbabwe

IV

Arts of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe has important cultural traditions that distinguish it from other African states, notably its history of architecture. The central granite plateau was traditionally home to various Shona peoples who built elaborate and precisely constructed stone structures. There are hundreds of stone ruins throughout the country ranging from large town sites like Great Zimbabwe (after which the country is named), Dhlodhlo, and Khami, to small isolated villages; some of the ruins date as far back as the 11th century ad. The stone building tradition was unique to this area and reached high levels of skill and sophistication. The Shona also have a tradition of carving the green and brown soapstone found in the region, and the carved soapstone birds of Great Zimbabwe have inspired a thriving modern industry of stone carving. Shona sculptors have achieved international fame.

Traditional dance and music, which makes use of the mbira (a hand-held board with mounted metal strips that are plucked with the thumbs) and the marimba (a type of xylophone), were neglected during the colonial period. Since independence, however, there has been a revival of traditional styles, with performers finding new audiences among tourists. Important also in the traditional culture were the stories of the Shona spirit mediums, who provided contact with the ancestors and became guardians of the oral histories of both the Shona and the Ndebele. Illiteracy and censorship by the white-controlled government limited the development of a written literature by black Zimbabweans until the 1980s. Noted postindependence authors include Charles Mungoshi and Tsitsi Dangarembga.

Harare developed originally as a European-style city with European theater and music, museums, an art gallery, and archives. The Queen Victoria Museum played a significant role in developing archaeology in Zimbabwe and a knowledge of the past, while the National Gallery pioneered the appreciation of Shona sculpture. The National Archives remain a major source for the history not only of the colonial period but of the Shona and Ndebele peoples. Bulawayo is home to the Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe, as well as a number of theaters, libraries, and art galleries.

V

Economy of Zimbabwe

Before the arrival of European settlers in the late 19th century, the peoples of what is now Zimbabwe practiced mixed farming (raising both crops and livestock), with cattle ranching predominating in the drier south and west. Gold mining and trade supplemented agriculture. The arrival of Europeans led to the growth of the commercial farming sector. Much of the best land was taken over by white settlers, who grew maize (corn) or fruit or practiced mixed farming. By the 1930s, however, the mainstay of settler agriculture was tobacco. Large numbers of low-paid Africans worked settler farms, many recruited from Mozambique. Gold mining continued, but the development of a large mining and industrial sector only took off after World War II (1939-1945), when Southern Rhodesia (as Zimbabwe was then called) benefited from large-scale investment that flowed into the colony. A wide range of mining enterprises were begun, exploiting the colony’s chrome, asbestos, and copper deposits, and an industrial sector developed producing consumer goods and even heavy steel manufactures such as railway locomotives.

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The international community imposed economic sanctions on Rhodesia when its white government declared independence in 1965. This resulted in further diversification of industrial production, particularly in the sector of consumer goods, as local producers sought to beat the sanctions by servicing the demands of domestic and regional markets. After independence in 1980, Zimbabwe joined the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (now the Southern African Development Community), a regional economic bloc. However, the country faced strong competition from South African industries, and agriculture suffered from severe drought for much of the 1980s.

In the early 21st century the Zimbabwean government deepened the country’s economic crisis. Starting in 2000 the government began seizing white-owned farms, ostensibly to redistribute the farmland to landless black Zimbabweans. Many of Zimbabwe’s skilled professionals, as well as most of its white farmers, left the country in the first years of the century. Agricultural production plummeted, depriving the country of its traditional source of export revenue, and debt and inflation skyrocketed. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) suspended aid due to the government’s poor fiscal management, and Zimbabwe plunged into an economic meltdown. Inflation reached a stage that economists refer to as hyperinflation (see Inflation and Deflation). As prices soared out of control, a thriving black market emerged. In January 2008 Zimbabwe reported an annual inflation rate of 100,000 percent. Zimbabwe’s economy ranked as the most bankrupt and fiscally untenable in the world.

A

Labor

In 2005 Zimbabwe’s labor force was 5.8 million people. Trade unions represent Zimbabwe’s major industries and service sectors. All are affiliated with the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, which was founded in 1981. Employers’ associations are strong in the agricultural sector, particularly the Commercial Farmers’ Union, founded in 1942.

B

Services

The service sector accounts for 59 percent of Zimbabwe’s gross domestic product (GDP). Tourism, education, and public services are the most important sectors. Zimbabwe has some of the most important tourist attractions in southern Africa and is now a major destination for tourists from all over the world. The biggest attraction is Victoria Falls, followed by Hwange National Park, Lake Kariba, and the ruins of Great Zimbabwe. The mountains of eastern Zimbabwe also receive many visitors. In 2005, 1.6 million tourists visited the country.

C

Industry

The industrial sector diversified during the years that sanctions were imposed on Rhodesia (1965 to 1980), and today Zimbabwe produces a wide range of consumer goods. The most important products are iron and steel, textiles, processed food, and chemicals. Industry, primarily manufacturing and mining, accounted for 23 percent of GDP in 2005.

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