Nelsa Guambe (b.in 1987, Chicuque Mozambique); lives and works in Maputo across multidisciplinary fields. Self thought artist whobegan painting after completing her studies for a degree in Public Administration and Development studies from UNISA (University ofSouth Africa), in 2010. Drawing her inspiration from her country Mozambique, its people, history, and all that inspires her to register!

Nelsa has been working as a full time artist since 2015, Having worked previously for International development Corporation

Her Solo shows include: Memórias Daqui - Fundação Fernando Leite Couto (Maputo - 2025) , Homage to the sailor - FNB Art Fair(Johannesburg, 2022); Daqui e Dalí, Nucleo de Arte (Maputo,2022) DEAL GaLeRia (Maputo,2019), Status Quo - Centro CulturalFranco Moçambicano (Maputo,2016), Vozes - Associação Moçambicana de fotografia (2015), A Arte por Traz da Mulher Nucleo deArte (Maputo, 2015);

Group exhibition include: Museu Nacional de Arte (Maputo 2025), Afrotopias Artistas do Pós-independência (Universitat Libre de Bruxelles 2025), Museu Nacional de Arte (Maputo 2023), Capetown ArtFair (CapeTown, 2023), Afriart Gallery (Kampala , 2023), Turbine ArtFair(Johannesburg, 2023), Latitude ArtFair (Johannesburg 2023); 1:54 London (Londo,2019). Turbine Artfair (Johannesburg,2019),Mozambican Honorary Consulate (Hamburg, 2019), Cultural Franco Moçambicano (Maputo,2014), Pure Gold: Upcycled/upgraded -a decade long touring exhibition (Uruguay, Brasil, Hanoi, Yangon, London, Bangkok, Hamburg). In 2017 she co-founded DEALGaleria. Nelsa is the Winner of the National Prize for Children's Literature in the Illustration category..

Avenia Jacob | Acrylic on Board

HOMAGE TO THE SAILOR

This body of work was created after the deadly cyclone Dineo hit Inhambane and its surrounding coastal areas.  After visiting my home village Chicuque, i found partly destroyed sails littering the village. Many fishermen lost their boats to Dineo. I collected these sails and use them as canvases for my paintings:

“I saw it as a way of giving a new life to the sails. The fact that one could reuse that material after such a loss seemed important to me. There is so much that goes away after such a cyclone and little life can come back. It was a way for me to bring back life to what seemed nothing at that stage.

During the trip to my village when I went to look for the sails, I found one particular one that was not related to the cyclone. It was of a man called Bambo. His wife told me that her husband died. She told me that as her husband was dying, his sail was also dying. Reusing his sail, just like the ones Dineo left behind, is a way of paying homage to the sailors. The sails are over 30 years old. They have been in the water for so long. They have such a life of themselves. It’s a homage to the sailors, it’s to document the events and lives of these sails, by giving them a new life, a new approach, a new perspective – and hopefully one that will last longer, as a painting in that case.

– Nelsa Guambe, August 2022