our good friend Fusi has sent us this invitation for a very interesting exhibition by Mustafa Maluka, a very talented and multiskilled artist who beside painting is also involved in several other cultural projects, as for instance with music. he was in fact the very first to organise a grime-time event in south africa and the connection to this subculture movement turned out to be one of the very reasons for why he actually decided to move to berlin.
however i don’t want to indulge on his other projects…

here is the invitation to the exhibition and an introduction to Mustafa´s work:
















the exhibition presents a series of new works by Mustafa Maluka, each of them unfolds a reflection on identity and culturally defined differences.

Mustafa Maluka´s portraits combine reference to graffiti, hip-hop and pop culture. the majority of maluka´s paintings take their point of departure in editorials and advertisements from magazines to which he has a special affinity.
he develops his portraits through several layers of colour, enabling the depicted persons to appear as characters with their own personality- ostentatious, cool or spirited.
Maluka´s “invented heroes” hint at personal stories, including those dealing with formation of identity. discussions concerning cultural identity and migration are of central importance to Maluka´s oeuvre. his works examine how his own personal experiences tend to differ to those born and raised in a different social, cultural or political context. the experience of being an outsider from the so called “cape flats” in cape town and later being an outsider in a foreign country has had an important impact on Maluka´s work. thus, it has resulted in the critical and subversive strategy, which is characteristic of his artistic practice.








Maluka was born in cape town in 1978. in 200 he moved to amsterdam where he studied at the de ateliers post-graduate art institute. in 2004, Maluka returned to south africa and won the tollman award for visual arts. since 2006 he has lived and worked in berlin. He has exhibited in asia, Europe, the united states and south america (the 7th sao paolo biennial). furthermore, his works were included in the 2006 group show, “what lies beneath: new art from south africa” at the galerie mikael Andersen in Copenhagen.

*text by Galerie Mikael Andersen




the exhibition begins saturday 2 of february at
6-9pm and ends the 8th of march 2008.
at Galerie Mikael Andersen
Auguststrasse 50 b - Berlin mitte












and here a link to Mustafa´s pictures of the legendary boombx party and one of his personal blog.