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Guebuza praised Malangatana as an "ambassador of our culture" who gave his country a "crystal clear self-confidence."
"Mozambique is in mourning," he said, as flags flew at half-mast around the country.
Born on June 6, 1936, Malangatana Valente Ngwenya died of respiratory complications in hospital in Matosinhos in northern Portugal on January 5. He was 74 years old.
The body of the artist, known only by his first name, was brought back to Mozambique and laid in state in Maputo on Wednesday.
Three of his four children supported his widow as the cask was lowered into the ground close to a foundation he founded to promote the arts.
Malangatana spent his early life working as a herder, apprentice healer, a servant and a ball boy in a tennis club, where he was introduced to painting by Portuguese colonists who encouraged him to pursue art.
Known for his big canvases and colourful frescos, Malangatana was also a ceramicist, sculptor and poet.
He was imprisoned twice by the Portuguese while fighting with liberation movement the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) before independence in 1975. From 1990 to 1994 he served as a parliamentary deputy for Frelimo.
His murals adorn the Museum of Natural History and the Centre for African Studies at the Eduardo Mondlane University. In 1997 he was named UNESCO Artist for Peace.
Singer Stewart Sukuma told AFP that for years the late artist sang a song with the lyrics: "Our mothers are gone, our uncles are gone, our fathers are gone. I will stand alone."
"Now we are going to sing that song for him," Sukuma said.
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"Mozambique is in mourning," he said, as flags flew at half-mast around the country.
Born on June 6, 1936, Malangatana Valente Ngwenya died of respiratory complications in hospital in Matosinhos in northern Portugal on January 5. He was 74 years old.
The body of the artist, known only by his first name, was brought back to Mozambique and laid in state in Maputo on Wednesday.
Three of his four children supported his widow as the cask was lowered into the ground close to a foundation he founded to promote the arts.
Malangatana spent his early life working as a herder, apprentice healer, a servant and a ball boy in a tennis club, where he was introduced to painting by Portuguese colonists who encouraged him to pursue art.
Known for his big canvases and colourful frescos, Malangatana was also a ceramicist, sculptor and poet.
He was imprisoned twice by the Portuguese while fighting with liberation movement the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) before independence in 1975. From 1990 to 1994 he served as a parliamentary deputy for Frelimo.
His murals adorn the Museum of Natural History and the Centre for African Studies at the Eduardo Mondlane University. In 1997 he was named UNESCO Artist for Peace.
Singer Stewart Sukuma told AFP that for years the late artist sang a song with the lyrics: "Our mothers are gone, our uncles are gone, our fathers are gone. I will stand alone."
"Now we are going to sing that song for him," Sukuma said.
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