Angolan artist Paulo Kapela died on Tuesday in Covid-19. Kapela participated in numerous group exhibitions in Africa and Europe, passing through Portugal.
Angolan plastic artist Paulo Kapela, who “directly influenced” a generation of younger artists who claimed to be overseas, died on Tuesday from a disease, informed the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Environment.
Self-taught, the artist born in 1947 in Maquela do Zombo, in the province of Uíje, started painting in 1960 at the Poto-Poto School, in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, and has lived and worked in Luanda since 1989.
Kapela participated in numerous group exhibitions in Africa and Europe, passing through Portugal.
Within the scope of the Luanda Triennale, he integrated the exhibition “No Fly Zone” (Lisbon, 2013, at the Berardo Museum) and the Angolan representation of the Venice Biennale in the exhibition “Check List – Luanda Pop”.
His works were also present in the traveling exhibition “Africa Remix”, which went through London, Paris, and Tokyo and “Réplica e Rebeldia” (2006).
In recent years, he has exhibited individually in Luanda at the galleries Tamar Golan, ELA (Espaço Luanda Arte), and at Centro Camões.
“Kapela will be very, very missed. It leaves a huge void on the stage of national contemporary art ”, noted ELA’s director-general, Dominick A. Maia Tanner in a note.
In 2003, Paulo Kapela received the Ciciba award – International Center for Civilizations Bantú, in Brazzaville, and was the winner of the 2020 edition of the National Culture and Arts Prize (PNCA), in the visual and plastic arts category.
The jury pointed out that the artist deserved the award for his “differentiated” artistic technique and for considering him “a master” for the younger generation.
Recently, Art and Culture Foundation paid tribute to master Kapela on November 14th and 15th with the collective exhibition “Paz e Amor”.
The artist tested positive for Covid-19 and was hospitalized 10 days at Clínica Endiama, in Ilha do Cabo, in Luanda.
Papá Kapela, as he was affectionately called, directly influenced a generation of young Angolan artists who have emerged in recent years and who are asserting themselves more and more across borders ”, highlighted the message of condolences from the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Environment.
“A modest man, but of incalculable artistic magnitude, he always lived in adverse conditions, first in the building of UNAP, National Union of Plastic Artists, then in Beiral, having also passed through the neighborhoods of Palanca and Vila Alice”, added the note.
