CINTHIA SIFA MULANGA
b. 1997, Lubumbashi, DRC
Cinthia Sifa Mulanga is an independent contemporary artist and was initially trained as a printmaker at Artist Proof Studio, but soon gravitated towards painting and collage - the mediums that have come to define her practice. Cinthia has always been fascinated by mixed media art, from drawing with charcoal and ink combining with collage, oil pastels and fabrics to the making of her recent art meets fashion collection on 100% silk. To emphasize on her interest of exploring more media, Cinthia recently collaborated with a Digital fine Art Gallery to create one-of-a-kind multimedia NFTs.
The core focus of Mulanga’s art is to challenge the representation of Black female subjects by investigating the individual’s relationship with space. Space works on multiple levels in Mulanga’s artworks; on the one hand, it represents the space itself. On the other, it is symbolic as an extension of the individual, the making of the person, in her case, the making of the subjects within the spaces she creates. The space embodies the human, morphing into an independent protagonist. As is the case with different facets of the human soul, these multi-spaces exist in one moment, inviting one to reflect and interact with them when they are ready.
It is in these liminal moments that Cinthia Sifa Mulanga highlights the nuances and complexities of a Black woman's identity and the exploration of womanhood in today’s world.
Solo Exhibitions
2023 Giants, Latitudes Centre for the Arts, Johannesburg, South Africa
2023 Embrace: A Path to Growth and Contentment, Bode Projects, Berlin
2022 In the Becoming, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2021 Intimate Spaces, African Arty in partnership with Latitudes Online, Casablanca, Morocco
Group Exhibitions
2024 Footprints, Chilli Art Projects, London, UK
2024 when we see us curated by Koyo Kouoh, Kunstmuseum, Basel, Switzerland
2023 left hanging - one sculpture, one rug & paintings from the collection of Amoako Boafo, dot.ateliers, Accra, Ghana
2023 When we see us curated by Koyo Kouoh, Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town, South Africa
2023 Finalists Exhibition, Norval Foundation, Cape Town, South Africa
2022 Shout Plenty curated by Princess Ayoola and Jana Terblanche, African Artist Foundation Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
2021 'I love who you are, I love who you ain't curated by Wunika Mukan, Bill Brady Gallery, Miami, USA
2021 Mother of Mankind curated by Adora Mba, House of Fine Art, London, UK
2021 A Force for Change presented by UN Women, Agora Gallery, New York, USA
2020 liminality in infinite spaces curated by Azu Nwagbogu, Lagos, Nigeria
2020 Eclectic Edition, The Art Room Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2020 The Human Experience curated by Keneilwe Mokoena, The Project Space, Johannesburg, South Africa
2018 animal in distress presented by JSE Deutsche Bank at Graham's Fine Art, Johannesburg, South Africa
Art Fairs
2024 RMB Latitudes art fair, Johannesburg, South Africa
2024 solo” like ice cream” Investec Cape town Art Fair, Bode projects, Cape Town, South Africa
2023 RMB Latitudes Art fair, Johannesburg, South Africa
2023 Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Bode Projects, Cape Town, South Africa
2022 Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Botho Space, Cape Town, South Africa
2021 AKAA Fair Paris, African Arty, Paris, France
2021 London Art Fair: Edits, African Arty in partnership with Latitudes Online, London, UK
Awards and Merits
2023 Artsy Vanguard
2023 Norval Sovereign African Art Prize finalist, South Africa
2022 British Fashion Council's New Wave Creatives, UK
2019 First prize: the Louis Khela Maqhubela & Douglas Portway tribute, presented by Artist Proof Studio and Strauss & Co, South Africa
Publications
2023 Koyo Kouoh, When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting, Thames & Hudson, UK
2023 African Supernova - Collection Carla & Pieter Schulting, Kunsthal Kade, Germany
Select Press
In conversation with Cinthia Sifa Mulanga | Bode Gallery
Of AfroSurrealism | Office Magazine
Journey of Interiority | ArtThrob
21 Black Female Painters | Kooness
Intimate Spaces | Morocco | C&
Portrayals of femininity, the body, and identity | IQOQO
Munthe Art Monday | Cinthia Mulanga
#AWPowerFifty: Cinthia Sifa Mulanga | AgendaWomen
SheCurates interviews Cinthia Sifa Mulanga
When art inspires fashion | P54
Cinthia Mulanga’s work was included in 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙒𝙚 𝙎𝙚𝙚 𝙐𝙨: 𝘼 𝘾𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝘽𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙁𝙞𝙜𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙋𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 – a major exhibition that opened at the Zeitz MoCAA in 2023, and travelled to the Kunstmuseum in Basel in 2024 – featuring 155 artists from around the world working with Black Figuration in their paintings. This is a seminal exhibition that will result in new ways of practice in curating and encourage contextual understanding of Black history of art, much like that of Africa Remix in the mid 2000s.
Curated by Koyo Kouoh, “When We See Us” featured a wide spectrum of painters from lauded contemporary artists like Kehinde Wiley to historical artists such as Alfred Thoba who never gained the recognition they deserved for their artistic practice during their lifetime. The inclusion of emerging artists like Cinthia Mulanga is important as a curatorial decision, establishing recognition of artists from all moments in their careers, highlighting their relevance, moving away from the languishing authority of the Western gaze in art canon. The quote below from an interview with Mulanga elucidates the gravitas of the exhibition on an individual level, and from which it is easy to extrapolate how the other living artists included may feel.
“It’s actually a huge opportunity for me. I see it as a very huge compliment to my work and what I do. It means, again, that I get to be a part of [history]. I used to read those catalogues, whether it’s of fashion, etc. I [got] into art catalogues and stuff like that, and then to be able to see myself as a part of a catalogue that is part of history, and the experiences of Black people … I am very thrilled by it. It’s nerve-wracking, sometimes, because again, I wrap my mind around the fact that it’s happened, and it’s still going to be happening in years to come. I’m very proud of it actually, it makes me proud. ”