Mario Macilau | Mozambique
“I consider my photographic practice to be a visual investigation, taking a critical view on identity, political issues, and environmental conditions. These three broad themes come into focus through their impact on socially isolated groups, groups who need to retrieve their voices and to cast light on these issues as they affect their own particular experience.”
Mário Macilau was born in 1984 in Maputo, Mozambique where he still currently lives and works.
Macilau started his photographic journey in 2003, and went professional after he traded his mother’s cellphone for his first camera in 2007. He specialises in long-term projects that link to multiple sub-genres; identity, political issues, environmental conditions, and engagement with socially isolated groups. Macilau is committed to initiating positive change across different cultures, locations, and perspectives. Taking portraiture as a point of departure, intimacy becomes the key to unlocking broader perspectives or narratives. The way Macilau shoots is crucial for rich compositions (black and white, with muted tones and textures), and he uses depth of field and natural light – sometimes resulting in dark black or underexposed background – to achieve a nuanced and poetic atmosphere in his images.
Macilau has been involved in many collaborative and educational projects. He is also an activist with Walking Together (WT), a project for children’s rights which also provides access to education for girls and women. WT’s aim is to equip people with tools and resources in order to transition from their current reality to one of self-suitability.
Macilau’s work is held in many private and public collections.
Selected solo exhibitions:
2017
Art Paris Art Fair, Ed Cross booth, Paris, France
One Way, Mov’Art Gallery, Luanda, Angola
Moments of Transition, Art Africa Fair, Cape Town, South Africa
2016
Rostos e Espaços, Espaço Luanda Arte, Luanda, Angola, curated by Keyezua
Volta Art Fair, Ed Cross booth, New York, USA
2015
The Road Not Taken, The Auction Room, London, United Kingdom
Discover Show, Fotofestiwal Łódź, Poland
Nada Como O Tempo, Kulungwana Gallery, Maputo, Mozambique, curated by Berry Bickle
2014
The Price of Cement, Gallery Jatad, Houston, Texas, USA
Fora Da Cidade, blank projects, Cape Town, South Africa
Moments of Transition, Galeria Belo-Galsterer, Lisbon, Portugal
2013
Tempo, Galeria Belo-Galsterer, Lisbon, Portugal
2012
Living on the Edge, Kuona Art Trust, Nairobi, Kenya
Taking Place, Gallery Influx Contemporary, Lisbon, Portugal
2011
Life goes on, Mediateca do BCI, Mozambique
Wood and Deforestation, Kokopelli Festival, Belgium
2009
Terra de Boa Gente, Instituto Camões, Maputo, Mozambique
Selected group exhibitions:
2016
AAKA Fair, Ed Cross booth, Paris, France
FNB Joburg Art Fair, Espaço Luanda Arte booth, Johannesburg, South Africa
2015
Pavilion of the Holy See at the 56th Venice Biennale, Italy
Making Africa: A Continent of Contemporary Design, Vitra Design Museum, Germany
ENTRY PROHIBITED TO FOREIGNERS, Havremagasinet – Boden Art Center, Sweden, curated by Elise Atangana
1:54 Contemporary Art Fair, Ed Cross booth, London, United Kingdom
FNB Joburg Art Fair, blank projects booth, Johannesburg, South Africa
2014
Pangaea: New Art from Africa and Latin America, Saatchi Gallery, London, United Kingdom 2014 Fotofest Biennial, Houston, Texas, USA
No Fixed Abode, The New Church Museum, Cape Town, South Africa
next thing you know, blank projects, Cape Town, South Africa
Embodied Reflections, Galerie SANAA, Utrecht, The Netherlands
International Biennial of Casablanca, Morocco
FNB Joburg Art Fair: blank projects booth, Johannesburg, South Africa
2013
NATURA, Paisagem e Natureza, Museu Nogueira da Silva, Braga, Portugal, curated by Alda Galsterer 2012 Convergências, Alliance Française, Madrid, Spain & King’s Place, London, United Kingdom
2012
Dak’art Biennial OFF, Dakar, Senegal
Crossing Point Residency, Les Rencontres d’Arles, France
the KLM in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2011
Africa. See me, see you! Photo Spring Festival, Beijing, China
VI Chobi Mela Photo Festival, Dhaka, Bangladesh
BESPhoto, Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
BESPhoto, Berardo Museum Collection, Lisbon, Portugal
São Tomé Biennial, São Tomé Island
Bamako Biennial, Mali
Lagos Photo, Lagos, Nigeria
Common Language, for PLMJ Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal, curated by Miguel Amado 2011 South is the new North, Gallery Influx Contemporary Art, Lisbon, Portugal
Hasselblad Master Finalist, Studio, London, United Kingdom
Hasselblad Master Finalist, Shoot NYC, (La Venue), New York City, USA
Hasselblad Master Finalist, Delight Studios, Berlin, Germany
2010
VI Certamen de Fotografia Digital, Santa Lucia, Spain
32st Internationaal Fotofestival, Knokke-Heist, Belgium
LagosPhoto, Lagos, Nigeria
Mulheres e Fronteiras – Centro Cultural Franco-Moçambicano, Maputo, Mozambique
Dockanema Film Festival, Maputo, Mozambique
Bamako – Maputo, Centro Cultural Franco-Moçambicano, Maputo, Mozambique
FotoArt, Centro Cultural Franco-Moçambicano, Maputo, Mozambique
Gwanza Photo Festival, Harare National Museum of Art, Harare, Zimbabwe
2009
Bienal da TDM, Maputo Museum of Art, Maputo, Mozambique
Gwanza Photo Festival, Harare National Museum of Art, Harare, Zimbabwe
Month of Photography, Cape Town, South Africa
Sonhos Perdidos, Rua de Arte, Maputo, Mozambique
Cozinhas Ambulantes, Centro de Formação e Documentação Fotográfica, Maputo, Mozambique
Unicef Photo of the Year Award, finalist exhibition
VI Certamen de Fotografia Digital, Santa Lucia
Ponto de Convergência, ICMA/Goethe-Zentrum, Maputo, Mozambique
