“I draw eyes which represent the look on Africa. I like that people have to search for different stories”

Rodrigo Mabunda was born in 1985 in Mozambique where he still currently lives and works. 

He is a self-taught artist whose artistic career began in 2015 when, what initially was a passion and a break from his everyday job, became his vocation and professional activity.

Initially, Rodrigo used to draw on paper but when he found a computer box, he picked it up and transformed it. From that day on, packaging became his preferred medium. He gives a second life to those objects that most of us would consider simple waste. Rodrigo recovers and revives these forgotten objects through his vibrant and powerful creativity and transforms them into art. 

He says: “Now, I always see the potential in the packaging boxes. That is why I sometimes say I’m a “dreamer of the streets” because I adopt these boxes as if they were street children.” He’s inspired by the chaotic movement of the city of Maputo and tells stories through his original illustrations.

His artworks are present in the Pigozzi Collection, Moleskine Foundation Arte, and several private collections.

In 2018, he was the resident artist at Artistic Residence in Óbidos in Portugal and in 2019 at AKKA Project, Venice, Italy. 

Selected group exhibitions 

2022
African identities, AKKA Project Venice, Venice, Italy

2021
UnFair, Art Fair, Milano, Italy

WopArt Fair 2021, Lugano, Switzerland

2020
Doors, Eyes And Tribal Marks, AKKA Project, Dubai, UAE

2019
Mozambique: Exploring The In-Between, Akka Project, Venice, Italy

The Mabundas, Centro Cultural Português, Maputo, Mozambique

2018
Núcleo de Arte, Maputo, Mozambique

Joburg Art Fair, Johannesburg, South Africa

Xitiko Ni Mbaula, Roda Viva, Lisbon, Portugal

Tokyo International Art Fair, Tokyo, Japan

Redimensão, Gallery 1834, Maputo, Mozambique

Art Dubai Art Fair, Dubai, UAE

2017
Colecção Crescente, Kulungwana Gallery, Maputo, Mozambique