Artists

Collen Maswanganyi was born in the rural village of Noblehoek near Giyani, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Collen comes from an artistic family. His father is the well-known sculptor Johannes Maswanganyi, and like him, Collen works in the medium of wood. His grandfather Piet Mafemani Maswanganyi was a carver of note as well.Collen started school at Haaka Primary School in 1983. He passed his matric at two different schools; namely, Ndengeza High School in 1995 and N'wamavimbi High School in 1996.

He registered for a Fine Arts Diploma at Technicon Witwatersrand from 1996 to 1999. After obtaining his Diploma in Fine Arts, Collen began his journey as a full-time artist. “My art is about the old and the new. I look at life generally where I make sculptures dressed in African and modern ways. I look at technological development. My most popular works involve people or couples speaking on phones or people dressed modestly”.

Collen’s works are collected by private collectors, corporates, museums and galleries, including ABSA, Pretoria Museum, University of Pretoria, University of Witswatersrand, Sasol and Rand Merchant Bank. He has won multiple awards including an ABSA L Atelier Merit Award in 2010.

Collen aims to exhibit internationally just like his father and other sculptors from his region.