Muyambo Marcel Chishimba was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 1950. He was taught as a young boy to paint by his uncle, Kabemba Albert Stounas, an acclaimed artist in Congo. As a young man, Chishimba travelled to neighboring Zambia to further his studies and exhibit his work. Over the course of a number of years, Chishimba exhibited in Zambia, Swaziland, and Malawi. In 1993, after the death of his first wife amid extreme conflict in his homeland, Chishimba fled south to the Zambian border as a refugee.

Chishimba’s life as a painter continued sporadically while he lived in a Zambian refugee camp with his family and second wife, Mary. Never one to falter in the face of challenges, Chishimba painted and sold portraits and landscapes for nearly 20 years living in the camp, in order to buy enough food to feed his family. His stunning portraiture caught the attention of former Zambian President, Kenneth Kaunda during the president’s visit to the camp.

After becoming fast friends, Mr. Kaunda arranged for the Chishimba family to move into town in 2010, where Chishimba continued to paint, exhibit his work, and teach, demonstrating a variety of techniques to budding artists.

Chishimba and his family later applied for resettlement, spent several years in the vetting process, then finally left Zambia and settled in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in the summer of 2019, where he now continues his 50+ year career as an artist, painting abstracts and landscapes with oil on canvas. His bold, dynamic strokes and his unique combination of earthy tones and richly hued colors are inspired by the culture and people of his African homeland.

While his preferred medium is oil on canvas, Chishimba paints using acrylic and watercolor as well, and is also an accomplished sculptor. As an artist, teacher, and father of 8 children, he now passes on the family craft by teaching several of his children to paint.