Artist Database

Vusi Khumalo was born in 1951 in Balfour North, Gauteng. He is known for creating compelling scenes of township life with his mixed-media collages, incorporating materials such as corrugated iron, rusted tins, wood, and fabric scraps. An anti-apartheid activist and long-time ANC member, Khumalo was forced into exile in 1986. During his time in ANC camps in Zambia and Tanzania, specifically in the Dakawa Camp, he discovered his talent and passion for art. The ANC and the Swedish Government established the Dakawa Art and Craft Community Centre in this camp, which taught various arts and crafts skills. Khumalo completed his studies through correspondence with the University of London and received a bursary to attend a summer course in art at the Gerlesborg School of Fine Art in Sweden in 1991. After returning to South Africa in 1992, he settled in Makhanda, where the Dakawa Art and Craft Community Centre had been relocated. He taught at the centre and was awarded another bursary to study in Sweden, spending one year at the Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm. In 1996, Khumalo dedicated himself to being a full-time artist. He has exhibited extensively throughout the years, notably with Everard Read.