Ernesto Shikhani
Ernesto SHIKHANI was born in 1934 in Mozambique. Shikhani´s work is recognized and admired by many of his contemporary Mozambican artists. His work is not a subsidiary of any specific style: although influenced by traditional Mozambique culture, it shows clear signs of a very original and unique approach to the modern and contemporary african art. Shikhani presented himself as a nationalist facing various obstacles, always pursuing ideas of freedom. His more recent painting and drawing show signs and colors, sometimes aggressive but also vibrant and radiant. From 1970 he began to devote himself to painting along with the sculptures he keept on doing. In 1973, he was given an artistic grant by Gulbenkian Foundation that allowed him to live in Lisbon to prepare a solo exhibition in Estoril. The art grant was taken from him after the Political Police of the dictatorship found the exhibition to be subversive which force him to leave back those artworks in Portugal with a close friend until they were found by Perve Galeria, more than 30 years later, in 2005.