Collection

In 1991, David Hlongwane finished a four-year program at the Academia di Belle Arte in Perugia, Italy. He now teaches painting to minors in jails with the empathy that comes from his own incarceration as a result of his activism. David Hlongwane was born in the Worcester Township of Zwelethemba in 1963.

He graduated from Vuyisile High School in Worcester with a bachelor’s degree in business administration .In 1984, he founded the Community Arts Project. When his brother, who had been his biggest supporter, was assassinated, he had no choice but to drop out of school. During the Apartheid era, he was arrested multiple times. During his time in prison, he was able to develop his artistic abilities. David Hlongwane received a full grant from the Italian government in 1988 to study art for a year at Perugia, a tiny town near Florence.