Luwanda strives to paint better visual art space

For long, the country’s visual artists have struggled to attract patronage to their exhibitions, igniting calls to implement innovations to improve the situation. In previous exhibitions in the country’s cities, it has been common to see foreigners outnumber locals. No wonder it has been foreigners who mostly buy the art works.

But the foregoing has not discouraged visual artists from investing their efforts to shape a new narrative for the country’s visual arts space. One such name is Chimwemwe Luwanda, who has been organising solo art exhibitions since 2024. I am pleased I have been able to sell my work, although most of them is sold outside the country.

It is my intention to see my fellow Malawians buy my work,” he said in an interview. The 25-year-old artist said among the challenges is lack of self-belief among artists and lack of support in terms of sponsorship as compared to other art fields. As part of his efforts to help open up the visual arts space, Luwanda introduced a teaching initiative Painting with Chim, an offline creative space where people receive mentorship.

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He said: “This space helps people swap screens for creating their own work not just seeing it from afar. We have seen a number of people slowly getting interest in the genre and we believe that with the little we are doing a change will be there.” This year, Luwanda returned with the third edition of his one-man exhibitions on March 9 held in Blantyre. The artist said he wants to build on the momentum to set new milestones in visual arts.

In his last exhibitions, Luwanda sold his paintings in countries such as China, Canada, United States of America, France and Germany. “The works present faces, figures and forms that feel known, without referring to specific individuals through both human and animal imagery. The exhibition reflects shared emotion, behaviour and memory, inviting personal connection and interpretation,” he said.

The artist is a product of Jacaranda School of Orphans and the institution’s director Luc Deschamps said it is exciting to see Luwanda carry on with the values of excellence, compassion and community transformation that the school stands for. “He has blossomed into a great creative entrepreneur at a young age. He has become a leader among fellow artists and we are proud of him,”said Deschamps in an interview yesterday: Luwanda also serves as Visual Arts Association of Malawi Southern Chapter chairperson.

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