The Makonde Art is typical of the North of Mozambique.
It consists mainly of wood carvings made in ebony, sandal wood or light wood.
The portraits and life scenes reflect a high level of humanity with high sense of proportion and harmony with the soul, and introspective to the inner world.
The figures are carved using a single piece of wood. The “primitive” discourse between the artist, the carved material and the subject represented give life to basic identifiable traits typical of the Makonde culture.
The identity of the artist impregnates the material and the life represented that is almost immaterial.
The artist acquires supernatural powers as a special minded person capable of capturing the inner spirit of reality.
A Modern Makonde Art has been under development mostly since 1950.
The inspiration to the carvers comes mostly in dreams and is filled with spirits and figures at the borders of human existence.
Other inspirations symbolize many aspects of life: love, desire and lust always keeping in mind the interdependence of all living beings.
The artists find no difficulty in carving figures that represent both human and animal bodies, exaggerating specific features to express more vividly their belonging to a supernatural existence.
In the infinitesimal space that the malleable wood gives to the artist a world of dreams and demons is brought to life. Intricacy of design and details are such that carving can require several months of work for the artists.
