Kilala Malola

Kilala was born 1949 in Tandi village in Rusape where her father, originally from Malawi, was employed as a headmaster at Chapwanya primary school. She attended the primary school for a few years to later finish grade five at Rutanda school. After she quitted schooling, she married Amali Malola who came from Malawi. After the wedding they spent a short period in Malawi before settling down in Centenary where she was employed as a field worker and her husband as a builder.

After five years in Centenary, they moved to Mvurwi, where both found employment at Tengenenge farm. First, she worked in the tobacco field before becaming a house maid. It was during that time that Tom Blomefield asked her to do some paintings on canvas. Tom supplied her with all the her painting pleased Tom who encouraged her to work on stone. In 1964, she started stone sculpting by creating a human head, followed by a bird and then a lizard.

As a woman artist, at times she received money from Tom however it was after the arrival of Ben Joosten that the art community could sell their art more. As well as working on the stones, she continued to work on her paintings. In the late 1990s, she won an award by her paintings.

Kilala Malola’s sculptures