Born in 1941 in Manjacaze, Mozambique
Lives and works in Maputo, Mozambique
Son of peasants, Estevão Mucavele left for the mines of South Africa in 1957, looking for a better life. He was then 16 years old. A year later, Mucavele left the mines and worked as a cleaner in an art gallery in Johannesburg. In 1966, he moved to Cape Town where he worked as a janitor, a job that gave him a lot of spare time. He devoted this time to painting and two years later had his first exhibition. Mucavele's works generally represent landscapes; those he has seen, the mines, the sea, inspired by his travels between Mozambique and South Africa. A union of the artist and nature, his painting retains the colors and shapes of the Karoo desert, the Cape Mountains (Table Mountain, Lion's Head, Signal Hill) or the Cape of Good Hope. "Without compromise", according to Malangatana (the great name of Mozambican Art), his paintings fascinate and make him a unique artist.