African art is commanding increased attention on the international stage. We highlight 6 new generation African artists to know, who through their thought-provoking work are helping to shape contemporary art across the African continent, whilst making their mark internationally.
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Nelsa Guambe is a self-taught artist who lives and works in Maputo, Mozambique. Primarily a painter Nelsa’s work moves beyond the canvas to incorporate product design, where working in collaboration with a local design studio, Piratas Do Pau her colourful and surreal images help to transform discarded water heaters collected from the city’s streets into distinctive functional products such as wine racks and lighting. As one of the designer-makers I had the pleasure of selecting for the IFA Pure Gold exhibition, which explores rubbish and its use in sustainable design to creating objects of value in design, I thought this would be a […]
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Greetings from the city of Hamburg in Germany where I am attending the press conference and opening of Pure Gold – Upcycled! Upgraded! a forward-thinking exhibition that explores rubbish, more specifically how found and waste materials are being used the world over to create objects of value, hence the title, Pure Gold. As one of the curators, I had the honour of selecting designers-makers to represent sub-Saharan Africa. [Image credit: H++, Chair and table set, 2011; Water hyacinth, metal, yarn, wood chair – Alafuro Sikoki-Coleman]
Read MoreGonçalo Mabunda [Mozambique] [Image credit: ‘The Elegance Throne’ – Goncalo Mabunda] I mentioned a little while back about the increasing trend for furniture as art amongst collectors and Gonçalo Mabunda’s often startling, furniture sculptures fit into that category. When I first saw the images of his ‘Chair’ series which has been a recurring theme of his for a while now, I was quite taken with how striking the forms where and equally intrigued with some of the titles such as ‘The Elegance Throne’, ‘Harmony Armchair’, Dream of the Children Armchair’ and ‘The Woman Throne’; titles which appear to contradict the hard […]
Read MoreIndigo Bay Island Resort and Spa [Mozambique] Indigo Bay Island Resort and Spa has been a daydream for a while, albeit an intermittent one – but we are talking over a good number of years, so it’s only right it should be honoured as the first posting. I first came to know Indigo Bay when the design studio I was working with at time acquired them as a client. Located on Bazaruto Island the largest of an archipelago idyll just of the Mozambique coast that nestles amid the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean, Indigo Bay Island […]
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