13 Facts About Alberto Chissano

Alberto Mabungulane Chissano was a Mozambican sculptor best known for his work using indigenous woods, and sculptures in rock, stone and iron.

Alberto Chissano is considered to be one of Mozambique's most important and influential artists, together with the painter Malangatana Ngwenya.

Alberto Chissano was born in Manjacaze, Gaza, in the south of Portuguese Mozambique.

Alberto Chissano had limited schooling; his studies were hindered by his expulsion from his mission school for dancing the traditional dance Ngalanga.

Alberto Chissano was strongly influenced by his maternal grandmother, who taught him rites and traditions such as how to divine through the use of ossicles and snail shells, as well as traditional herbal medicine.

Alberto Chissano left to work in the gold mines of South Africa at the age of 18.

Alberto Chissano obtained a position as a servant at the art centre Associacao Nucleo de Arte in the capital, and later trained in taxidermy at Museu Alvaro de Castro.

Alberto Chissano began sculpting in his late twenties and had his first exhibition in Lourenco Marques in 1964.

Alberto Chissano was a pioneer for a generation of sculptors in the 1970s, a decade that spanned the last years of the colonial period and the beginning of Mozambican independence.

Alberto Chissano became the most famous and influential sculptor in Mozambique.

Alberto Chissano's sculptures tell a lot about the history of Mozambique, the people, struggle, starvation, and suffering, but joy and pride.

Alberto Chissano turned his family home in Matola into a museum and gallery, Museu Galeria Alberto Chissano.

Alberto Chissano died at 59, on 19 February 1994, in Matola.