Tutani Mgabazi was born in Guruve, Mashonaland Central in 1975 and belongs to one of Zimbabwe’s most respected sculpting families. He enjoyed arts and crafts from the moment he started primary school and remembers visiting his uncle, Francis Mugavazi, a respected First Generation sculptor, during his school holidays.

With sculpting in his DNA he was inextricably drawn to this form of creative expression. And like many Zimbabwean sculptors his informal apprenticeship with his uncle started with sanding and polishing sculptures. By the age of 12 Tutani was creating his own work and his uncle would promote him to visiting collectors. Tutani admits that initially he imitated his uncle's style but as he became more confident he began to experiment and develop his own way of seeing and interpreting the stone. Tutani‘s father saw that his son had both a talent and passion for sculpting and purchased a set of tools for him when he was 13.

A few years later Tutani was invited by Tom Bloomfield to display his work at Tengenenge, which at that time as a thriving sculpting community. In 1992 he and a group of fellow artists joined by Francis Mugavazi formed a co-operative called the Gavazi Sculptors.

Before he had completed his secondary education Tutani's works had already been exhibited at the National Art Gallery of Zimbabwe. In 1995 he moved to Mtorashanga after discovering and registering a Springstone mine. Soon after that he created the Artist to Artist program with the assistance of the late Jill Latham. Several years later he moved to Mvurwi to help establish an artist run cooperative known as the Mvurwi Arts Centre. Tutani now works from his nearby home studio and displays his sculptures at the Arts Centre along with other artists from the region.

According to Fran Fearnley, former Curator ZimArt Gallery, “Tutani is a powerful storyteller who moves effortless between abstract and representational styles. His noble strong women, playful birds, sensual torsos, and intriguing abstract forms are created both with passion and exceptional technical skill.”

Tutani’s striking contemporary sculptures have been featured in several international exhibitions including the Annual Sculpture Symposium in Germany in 2000, 2006 and 2015, and the Munhumutapa Art Gallery in Cape Town in 2003 and 2004.

Tutani is also a gifted teacher and has led stone sculpting workshops in Germany, Italy, South Africa Canada and the US. His sculptures have sold to collectors and galleries in Europe, the UK, the US, South Africa and Canada.