ARLINDO MAUNDE

Arlindo Maunde is a Mozambican-born, self-taught visual artist who has lived and worked in Johannesburg, South Africa, since 1988. His artistic journey began from a place of absence: growing up in a home without artworks, he became fascinated by the pieces he encountered in other people’s homes. This early curiosity gradually developed into a deep desire to understand and create art.

A defining moment came during his school years, when Maunde regularly passed the home of renowned Mozambican artist Malangatana Ngwenya. Encountering Malangatana’s work at close range left a lasting impression and opened Maunde’s eyes to the power of art as a means of expressing identity, memory, emotion, and lived experience. It became an important source of inspiration and strengthened his determination to pursue a life as an artist.

Over the years, Maunde has developed a distinctive mixed-media practice, working primarily with oil and acrylic on canvas and Fabriano paper. He combines brush and palette-knife techniques to create richly textured surfaces, allowing colour, movement, and material to interact intuitively. Texture has become an essential element of his visual language, giving his works depth and a sense of layered experience.

Working from his peaceful and intimate studio in Johannesburg, Maunde approaches each artwork as an opportunity for experimentation and emotional expression. His practice continues to evolve through the exploration of new techniques, materials, colour relationships, and visual narratives.

Maunde has exhibited extensively in South Africa and internationally and has collaborated with galleries, art dealers, design spaces, and private collections in South Africa and abroad, including Isis Gallery, Gavin’s Projects, Undiscovered Canvas (Monaco, France), Colour Me Africa (Chicago, USA), Living Art Emporium, Art Explosion, Gallery Direct, Les Cretis Private Gallery, Deville Baille Gallery, Art on 6th Kramerville, Roche Bobois, Artyli Art Gallery, Kate Wilkens Art, JVB Gallery, Setters Furnishers and Gallery, Gallery at Steyn City, EMK Links, Travel Gallery, Art Eye Gallery, Werksman Art Collection, Swellendam Art Gallery, Create Hub Gallery (Dubai, UAE), Magnifico Art (Dubai), and many others.

Today, Maunde continues to build a body of work rooted in personal history, cultural memory, experimentation, and an ongoing dialogue between colour, form, texture, and emotion.