From 1981 he worked full-time as an artist. He has exhibited in half a dozen countries and his
He was a pioneer for a genera-
work is in collections around the world. His public commis-
tion of sculptors in the 1970s, a decade that spanned the last
sions include murals for Frelimo and Unesco.
years of the colonial period and the beginning of Mozambican independence.
Malangatana helped establish various cultural institutions including the National Museum of Art.
Chissano was awarded the Nachingwea Medal in 1982 in recognition of his ‘extraordinary merit’.
Pioneering
He turned his family home in Matola into a museum and
The sculptor Alberto Mabungulane Chissano is considered
gallery, Museu Galeria Chissano. Here, visitors can see many
one of Mozambique’s most important and influential artists,
of Chissano’s own sculptures as well as paintings by Malanga-
along with the painter Malangatana.
tana and other artists.
Chissano, who died in February 1994, was best known for his work using indigenous woods and his sculptures in rock,
Revolutionary
stone and iron. His works say much about the nature of
The artists of the colonial period shared a powerful sense of
Mozambicans – both their struggles and suffering, and also
history which they expressed in their art. Symbols of colonial
their joy and pride.
domination and the superior, even mystical, power attributed to Europeans can be found in their works. A national culture of resistance sprang up among artists in what is now Maputo in the 1950s. The dominant figure in this group was Malangatana. His paintings, and the sculptures of Alberto Chissano, became powerful symbols of resistance to the intelligentsia during the last years of colonial rule. After independence, the government encouraged revolutionary art.
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