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Flinto Sylvester Mumbi Chandia (11 March 1955 – 2017) was a Zambian sculptor and musician. He is regarded as one of Zambia's significant modern and contemporary sculptors, known especially for works in wood, dolomite and marble.^[1][2]

Chandia was born in Kitwe and grew up in Chamboli Township on the Copperbelt, where he became interested in both music and art.^[1] He was influenced in his formative years by the Zambian artist Akwila Simpasa, who lived on the same street.^[1]

In 1980 Chandia travelled to Britain to study fine art at the City and Guilds of London Art School, where he remained until 1983.^[1] His training in London broadened his knowledge of sculptural technique, while his later work continued to draw on Zambian materials, forms and artistic contexts.^[3]

Chandia first came to prominence in Zambia in the late 1970s. He was among the first artists from the Copperbelt to make a breakthrough in the Lusaka art scene, exhibiting at the Mpapa Gallery in 1978.^[1] His work developed from early carvings in local hardwoods such as mubanga and mukwa into sculpture in stone, including dolomite and marble.^[1][4]

Chandia was associated with the development of modern visual art institutions in Zambia. He was a founder member of the Zambia National Visual Arts Council and was involved in artist workshops including Mbile and Kabasa.^[3] In 1994 he also participated in Tenq, a pan-African artists' workshop in Senegal organised under the auspices of Laboratoire Agit'Art.^[3]

His practice was often based on direct carving. Rather than preparing detailed models, he drew directly onto wood or stone and allowed the final form to develop through engagement with the material.^[3] Chandia also worked on a monumental scale, and his sculpture The Elephant was made for the COMESA Headquarters in Lusaka in 1991.^[3]

In 2013 Chandia worked with other artists and children from Lusaka community organisations on a large installation in the form of a Christmas tree made from discarded plastic bottles, a project that combined environmental awareness with collective making.^[3]

Before becoming known primarily as a sculptor, Chandia was active as a musician. While studying in London he played bass in the British pop group Jimmy the Hoover, whose single "Tantalise (Wo Wo Ee Yeh Yeh)" reached number 18 in the UK charts in 1983.^[1] According to Austin Kaluba, Chandia contributed to the song's use of a Mupukumo call-and-response structure.^[1]

Chandia's work is held in public and private collections in Zambia and internationally. According to Best of Zambia, his work has been represented in the Tress Collection in California, the Sir Robert Loder Collection in the United Kingdom, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, the Thabo Mbeki Collection in South Africa, the Kenneth Kaunda Collection and the Lusaka National Museum.^[1]

In 2019 the Lechwe Trust Art Gallery in Lusaka staged Art Lives On – ii, a retrospective exhibition of work by Chandia and Lutanda F. Mwamba.^[4] The exhibition included Chandia's Shell (1999), a white marble sculpture in the Lechwe Trust Collection, and other works in wood, marble and metal.^[4]

• Wooden Sculpture: Figure (1978), wood^[3]
• The Elephant (1991), COMESA Headquarters, Lusaka^[3]
• Shell (1999), white marble, Lechwe Trust Collection^[4]
• Mother & Child (1999), jacaranda and ebony, Lechwe Trust Collection^[4]
• Flower (2004), metal and black marble, Lechwe Trust Collection^[4]
• The Musician, wood, metal and marble base^[4]

Chandia has been described by Andrew Mulenga as one of Zambia's most important sculptors.^[2] The Lechwe Trust retrospective presented him as one of two "art icons" of Zambian art, alongside Lutanda Mwamba.^[4] His work is noted for combining technical skill in carving with a specifically Zambian modern sculptural language, rather than simply adopting European classical models.^[3]

Category:1955 births Category:2017 deaths Category:Zambian sculptors Category:20th-century sculptors Category:21st-century sculptors Category:People from Kitwe Category:Alumni of the City and Guilds of London Art School Category:Zambian musicians