GONÇALO MABUNDA

“Mabunda seems to be telling us: Do not destroy but transform. Do not erase but use weapons to redesign a new world of peace, so as to forget the atrocities of war.”

- KYO NOIR

CV

Born 1975, Maputo, Mozambique, Gonçalo Mabunda has always been interested in the collective memory of his country, Mozambique, starting in 1992, as it emerged from a long and terrible civil war and all the way into the complex present. He started work with decommissioned arms as he and a group of other young creatives were asked to assist in the long road to peace and reconciliation. 

In his sculpture, Gonçalo gives anthropomorphic forms to AK47s, rocket launchers, pistols and other objects of destruction. The masks seem to draw on deep connections to local histories and in a full circle moment land back home with a Modernist edge which in turn had taken inspiration from the Continent by figures such as Picasso and Braque. The deactivated weapons of war carry strong political connotations, yet the beautiful objects he creates also convey a positive reflection on the transformative power of art and the resilience and creativity inherent in southern African societies such as the Makua, Makonde and Shangaan -  all of which make up - who Gonçalo is. 

Mabunda is most well known for his thrones and they are his way of commenting on his childhood experience of violence and absurdity and the civil war in Moçambique that shaped so much of what came after. He has developed a global presence by participating in high value exhibitions, and fairs at renowned international galleries and museums such as the Akka Project Gallery (Dubai), Marrakech Art Fair (Morocco), Cape Town Art Fair (South Africa), Venice Biennale Art Fair (Italy), Jack Bell Gallery (London), Bozart Gallery (Lisbon), Gallery du Passage (Paris), and the Palais de Tokyo (Japan). His work is part of the permanent collection at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York and held by key collectors across the world. It is critical that his work is also appreciated by collectors across the African continent. One of Gonçalo’s thrones was exhibited during the ‘Making Africa’ Exhibition at the High Museum in 2017. His work is also featured in the current Fall Exhibition at the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University: Insistent Presence. 

aKAZ!ATL is proud and privileged to host Gonçalo Mabunda’s first solo exhibition in Atlanta.