Gonçalo Mabunda
In his sculpture, Gonçalo Mabunda is interested in using objects with strong political connotations which carry collective memory. Most of his furniture-sculpture is made from deactivated weapons that were stock-piled and hidden during the long civil war that divided Mozambique and that international organizations are still trying to recover fifteen years later.
Gonçalo has been working on the motif of the Chair in a recurrent fashion for a few years, alluding to the Western world’s interest in collecting the Chief Chair in traditional ethnic African art. The Chair also criticises current African governments that too often tragically manipulate armed violence as a way to strengthen their power.
He is now pursuing his reflexion more widely to other ‘furniture’ pieces that carry symbolically the burdens of vital political issues such as political power, food, energy into the privacy of the African home and psyche. The striking and beautiful ‘objects’ he creates also convey, however, a positive reflection on the transformative power of art and the resilience and creativity of African civilian societies.
Born in 1975, in Maputo, Mozambique, Gonçalo Mabunda has been working full time as an artist since 1997 after having trained in Mozambique and South Africa. He just created the Clinton Global International Initiative Awards for 2008, was recently commissioned by the prestigious glass-maker Daum to create a series glass sculptures, and is part of the collective show for the re-opening of the Museum of Art and Design New York.