In 1957, Estevao Mucavele, son of peasants, together with other mozambicans, leave for the mines in South Africa in search of a better life. He was 16 years old and had the 3rd grade completed in a Catholic mission.

A year later, in 1958, Estevão Mucavele left the mines and managed to get a job as a cleaner in a Johannesburg art gallery. In 1966 he went to Cape Town and worked there as a janitor, a job which left him with a lot of free time. Mucavele then decided to make use of this time and started to paint. Two years later he held his first one-man exhibition in Cape Town.

In 1971 Mucavele takes part in a group show. Following the good reception of this exhibition, he decides to dedicate himself exclusively to painting.

In 1976, a year after Mozambique's independence, Estevão Mucavele, returns to his home country. He collaborated with other painters on the mural in Heroes Square and participated in the travelling group show that went on to Angola, RDA and URSS.

Mucavel 's painting depicts usually landscapes: those he saw in South Africa, the mines, the sea and often his "imaginary landscapes".

In the words of Malangatana, Mucavele 's art is "uncompromised".

source: "EXPO 92 - 9 Artistas de Moçambique"