Mozambique gets first Malangatana painting exhibition since his death

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Mozambique gets first Malangatana painting exhibition since his death

11:59 CAT | 21 Jun 2017

Lusa (File photo) / Malangatana

Mozambique will host the first Malangatana painting exhibition since his death in 2011, a group of friends and admirers of the artist announced yesterday.

The artist and poet would have been 81 years old on June 6, and his birthday was the pretext for organizing “a set of events to remember the Mozambican painter and keep alive his reputation and international recognition”, they announced in a statement.

The exhibition of paintings, “The Women in Malangatana”, will be open to the public in the entrance lobby of the Maputo Municipal Council from Thursday until the 26th of this month.

The organising committee says the initiative is the first step in creating a Malangatana Valente Ngwenya Foundation, and intends to institute annual exhibitions for national visual artists in January and an international art festival in June.

The Mozambican painter Malangatana died at the age of 74 on January 5, 2011, at Pedro Hispano Hospital in Matosinhos, Portugal, after a long illness. He created ceramics, tapestries, engravings and sculpture, was a poet, actor, dancer, musician, cultural promoter, festival organizer, philanthropist and Frelimo deputy.

He was persecuted and detained by PIDE, the colonial secret police, and graduated both in Mozambique, and in Portugal as a fellow of the Gulbenkian Foundation.

Malangatana was named a UNESCO Artist for Peace and received the Prince Claus prize from the Netherlands and the Medal of the Order of Prince Henry from Portugal.

Source: Lusa