Simao WILIAMO

Mozambique
 

Malenga was born in a small village in northern Mozambique, in the heart of the Makonde region. At the age of 16, Malenga follows a deeply rooted family tradition by becoming a sculptor. Two years later he moves to Maputo where he starts working at the Makonde Art Cooperative, to later become a member of Mozambique’s National Art Museum artists collective. In 2007 Malenga is awarded a scholarship that leads him to attend an internship at Ar.Co (Center for Art and Visual Communication), in Lisbon and in 2008 the Faculty of Fine Arts of Oporto, both in Portugal. He exhibits collectively since 1992 and individually since 2005, in Portugal and abroad, his work is represented in public and private collections around the world. He is also an acclaimed painter and musician.

Malenga speaks for his work: "My work faithfully translates the essence of the Makonde art of carving – both formally, with the use of ancestral techniques, as conceptually, due to the ever-presence of my tribal legacy."

 

World Wood Day