Tribute to Malangatana Valente Ngwenya
The name Malangatana Valente Ngwenya may sound familiar to most people well versed in the African visual arts. A Mozambican painter and poet, Malangatana was one of Africa's greatest contemporary artists. He was born on the 6th of June 1936 in Matalana village, south of Mozambique. Ngwenya spent his early life attending mission schools and helping his mother on the farm. At the age of 12 he went to the city of Lourenco Marques now Maputo to find work where he became a ball boy for a tennis club. This allowed him to resume his education and he took classes at night through which he developed an interest in art. Ngwenya took up painting and held his first solo exhibit in 1959. His work drew on Mozambican history, including the colonial period, the fight for nationhood, human suffering, heroism and the civil war that broke out after the country's 1975 independence. After his country’s independence Malangatana openly rejoined FRELIMO now the single party communist organization.
Since 1981 he worked full time as an artist and his work has been shown throughout Africa including Zimbabwe and is in the collection of the National Museum of African Art in Washington DC. In addition, he has executed numerous murals including for Frelimo and UNESCO. Amongst his achievements Ngwenya has been awarded the Nachingwea Medal for Contribution to Mozambican Culture and has been made a Grande Oficial da Ordem do Infante D. Henrique. In 1997 he was also named a UNESCO Artist for Peace and received a Prince Claus Award. Recognition of his stature is implicit in the statement made by UNESCO's Director-General Federico Mayor when he presented the UNESCO award. The Mayor noted that Malangatana is "much more than a creator, much more than an artist- someone who demonstrates that there is a universal language, the language of art, which allows us to communicate a message of peace, of refusal of war." He was awarded a degree honoris causa by the University of Eora in 2010.
Malangatana’s works have always projected a bold vision of life where there is a communion between human, animal and plant life. He draws on his indigenous heritage whilst simultaneously embracing symbols of modernity and "progress", synthesis of art and politics. The National Gallery of Zimbabwe recognized Malangatana as a great communicator and teacher of art, particularly through art drawing classes for children and making use of the sand at the beaches of Mozambique. Malangatana Valente Ngwenya died at the age of 74 at the Pedro Hispano Hospital in Matosinhos, Portugal in January 2011.
Currently on display are works by Malangatana in the Beyond Borders exhibition at the National Gallery of Venice.
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