Give me an example of when you failed at something. How did you react and how did you overcome failure? I just notice I am unable to win art prizes. I have been a successful artist but nobody ever gave me a prize, not even at school where all the teachers wanted to buy my paintings. I think I am a real artist. I intend to make more art.
If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be? Time is a Gift: The Unauthorised Biography of Professor Samson Kambalu
What makes you angry? Bigotry and duplicity, and the tendency to measure value in numbers.
What was the biggest risk you ever took and what did you learn from it? Becoming an artist – now I bet there are very few people in the world who would beat me at job satisfaction.
What’s your most significant project? Tell me about it, what did you achieve and how? My PhD Research into how the problematic of the gift animates various aspects of my life, identity and art practice.
If you were a brand, what would your motto be? Exercise and exorcise.
Artist Samson Kambalu on art and the gift of creating
Adman Mike Abel of M&C Saatchi Abel asks Malawi-born artist and author Samson Kambalu some pointed questions about his life and work
Describe the colour yellow to somebody who is blind. Feels like the sun.
What’s the most interesting thing about you that we wouldn’t learn from your CV alone? I like running.
What are you known for? The Jive Talker, Holyballism, and Nyau Cinema
Teach me something I don’t know in the next five minutes. Blues guitar – three chords and the truth.
What inspires you? Oh wine, women, conversation, walking, film and reading.
What’s the last thing you watched on TV and why did you choose to watch it? I don’t watch TV, I am sorry.
What was the last gift you gave someone? A piece of stone from Barbados.
Artist Buhlebezwe Siwani on being a Sangoma, her definition of success and her upcoming project
What do you think about when you’re alone in your car? I don’t have a car.
You’re a new addition to the paint box. What colour would you be and why? Blue, because I am blue all the time even when I am happy.
How do you handle criticism? I always look to give my best with extreme humility, after that I don’t care what you think.
What is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning? I turn blue.
Tell me about a time you did the right thing and no one saw you do it. When I make art – it’s always a secret.
What do you worry about, and why? I think the gift economy is better than the current market economy. I worry we are not living life to the full chasing things when we could be stars.
How do you define success and how do you measure up to your own definition? Success is to give without expecting anything in return. It’s not an easy fit. Every day I can make art, I am grateful.
Coffee, camel lights and keeping your cool
Give me an example of when you failed at something. How did you react and how did you overcome failure? I just notice I am unable to win art prizes. I have been a successful artist but nobody ever gave me a prize, not even at school where all the teachers wanted to buy my paintings. I think I am a real artist. I intend to make more art.
If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be? Time is a Gift: The Unauthorised Biography of Professor Samson Kambalu
What makes you angry? Bigotry and duplicity, and the tendency to measure value in numbers.
What was the biggest risk you ever took and what did you learn from it? Becoming an artist – now I bet there are very few people in the world who would beat me at job satisfaction.
What’s your most significant project? Tell me about it, what did you achieve and how? My PhD Research into how the problematic of the gift animates various aspects of my life, identity and art practice.
If you were a brand, what would your motto be? Exercise and exorcise.