Feni Chulumanco was born in Cape Town and moved with his family to Langa Township at a young age. Whilst studying at Isilimela Comprehensive High School he met Miss Nkunzi, the Art, Culture and Design teacher who encouraged him to pursue his evident skill and passion for the arts. In 2014 Chulumanco met the artist Ayanda Mabulu at Greatmore Studios. This significant encounter led to him being mentored by Mabulu as well as interacting with a wide variety of established artists at Greatmore.


To reproduce and re-story his lived experience, compelling faceless solitary figures are always painted against a background of textiles and notably saturated colours, such as mustard walls from memories of his late grandmother's home. Chulumanco notes that these figures are self-portraits as well as recreations of his brother and himself at home. Rugs and textile remnants are commonly incorporated in his paintings, which he attributes to the door-to-door salesperson, whom his mother was always easily convinced to buy from because to her love of rugs. Having spent a significant amount of time studying and playing on them, the textures are quite familiar and constant - themes that appear throughout his work.

He paints his figures without faces because, while they are inspired in part by West African masks, they also represent Chulumanco's own experience. In his pursuit of being an artist, he had faced rejection from his community, and he recalls feelings of voicelessness and invisibility. Chulumanco's work is never static because his figures are always in motion - they represent the discipline he values through the chores assigned to his brother and him by his mother. He discloses that his dreams still link him to messages from his forefathers, including his late and beloved grandmother. She once told him that becoming an artist was the finest decision he could make.

He invariably returns to personal development and introspection. By encasing some of his figures in glass boxes, he references the individualism, personal growth, and the secure environment he created for himself through self-isolation in order to follow his calling. His emphasis is on self-esteem, individualism, and fulfilment, but it is also a tribute to the caregivers and feminine forces who nurtured, nourished, and believed in him, as he permeates his art with maternal warmth.
- Sara Khan

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2023
‘Behind The Walls’, Osart Gallery, Milan, Italy
'The Wimpy Home', Gordon Gallery, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel

2022
‘IMIYALELO’, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa
Investec Cape Town Art Fair, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa


GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023
‘Africa Supernova’, Museum Kade, Amersfoort, Netherlands
'An Endless Night', curated by Anelisa Mangcu, The Mount Nelson A Belmond Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa
Artefiera, Osart Gallery, Bologna, Italy
Investec Cape Town Art Fair, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa

2022
AAGA annual African Galleries Now online edition powered by Artsy, Africa
‘In Times Like These … Land Other Stories’, What If The World, Cape Town South Africa
‘A Very Loop Street Summer’, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa

2021
‘Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt’, FNB Art Joburg Open City, Keyes Art Mile, Rosebank, Johannesburg, South Africa
‘8X8’, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa
Investec Cape Town Art Fair Digital Event, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa
‘Dipaka’, Jaffer Modern, Green Point, South Africa
'40 Under 40’ What If The World, Cape Town, South Africa

2020
‘Emerging Artist Exhibition’ ArtB Gallery, Belville, Cape Town, South Africa
‘Home Is Where The Art Is’, Zeitz Mocca Museum, Cape Town, South Africa
‘Committee’s Choice’, ArtB Gallery, Belville, Cape Town, South Africa
‘When The Water Breaks’, Greatmore Studios Trust, Cape Town, South Africa
‘Tiny Treasures’, ArtB Gallery, Belville, Cape Town, South Africa

2019
Members Representation at ArtB Gallery, Belville, Cape Town, South Africa

2018
‘Artreach Western Cape Chapter 3’, AVA Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Presentation with Micro Galleries, Kathmandu, Hong Kong

RESIDENCIES

2018
Ruth Prowse School of Art, Woodstock, Cape Town, South Africa

2019
Greatmorer Studios Trust, Woodstock, Cape Town, South Africa