Buhlebezwe Siwani (born in 1987 in
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
) is a
multidisciplinary
An academic discipline or academic field is a subdivision of knowledge that is taught and researched at the college or university level. Disciplines are defined (in part) and recognized by the academic journals in which research is published, ...
artist known for her work in
performance art
Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...
,
installations, and
photographic
Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed in many ...
stills.
Biography
Buhlebezwe Siwani was raised in Johannesburg, and has lived in the
Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...
and
KwaZulu Natal
KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...
.
Education and career
Siwani completed her
BAFA (Hons) at the
Wits School of Arts in Johannesburg in 2011 and her
MFA at the
Michaelis School of Fine Art
The Michaelis School of Fine Art is a public university, public tertiary education, tertiary art school in the Cape Town suburb of Gardens, Cape Town, Gardens. It was founded in 1925 and is named after its benefactor, Max Michaelis. It is the Fin ...
s in 2015 where she graduated
cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...
.
Siwani works predominantly in the medium of performance and installations, and includes photographic stills and
videos
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) system ...
of some performances. Siwani uses videos and the stills as a stand in for her body which is physically absent from the space.
Her work has been described as "revelatory" and "political", encompassing themes of black womanhood and spirituality.
Exhibitions
*''IYEZA'', Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg (2023);
* ''Dedisa ubumnyama,'' Cairns Art Gallery, Cairns (2021);
*''ukuqhaqha,'' Camera Work, Palazzo Rasponi, Ravenna (2021);
*''The Power of My Hands. Africa(s): Women Artists –'' Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, Paris, France (2021);
*''Goddesses of Healing'', Mbassy, Hamburg (2021);
*''Casablanca Biennial'', Casablanca (2021);
*''Living, Forgiving, Remembering –'' Museum Arnhem, Arnhem, Netherlands (2020-2021);
*''Witness: Afro Perspectives from the Jorge M. Pérez Collection –'' El Espacio 23, Miami, USA (2020-2021);
*''Inkanyamba –'' Galeria Municipal de Almada, Almada (2020);
*''14th Curitiba Biennial'', Curitiba (2020);
*''Materiality'', Iziko National Gallery, Cape Town (2020);
* ''Othunjiweyo –'' Galeria Madragoa, Lisbon (2019);
*''Present Passing: South by Southeast'', Osage Art Foundation, Hong Kong (2019);
*''Bamako Encounters'', Mali (2019);
*''Ngoma: Art and Cosmology'', Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg (2019);
*''Cosmopolis #2: Rethinking the Human,'' Centre Pompidou, Paris (2019);
*''The Third Bank'', Bienal Ano Zero, Coimbra (2019);
* ''iNcence'' – No Man's Art Gallery, Netherlands (2018);
* ''Qab'Imbola –'' WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town (2018);
*''Tell Freedom'', KaDE Museum, Amsefoort (2018);
*''White blood blue night'', Centre d'art contemporain d'Alfortville, Alfortville (2018);
*''Imfazwe yenkaba,'' Galeria Madragoa, Lisbon (2017);
*''Deep Memory'', Kalmar Art Museum, Kalmar (2017);
*''Art/Afrique'', The Louis Vuitton Foundation, Paris (2017);
* ''Ingxowa yeGqwirhakazi –'' WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town (2016);
* ''Imfihlo –'' Graduate Exhibition, Michaelis Galleries, Cape Town (2015).
Residencies
* Het Vijfde Seizoen, Amersfoort (2017)
* Rote Fabrik, Pro Helvetia, Zurich, Switzerland (2016)
* Watch and talk, Theater Spektakel, Zurich, Switzerland (2015)
* Cite Des Arts, Paris (2020)
Awards
* Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Visual Arts (2021)
*Prix Bisi Silva (2019)
*Katrine Harries Print Cabinet Purchase Award (2015)
* Martienssen Prize Award (2010)
Personal life
Buhlebezwe lives and works between
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
and
Cape Town
Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Siwani, Buhlebezwe
21st-century South African women artists
Conceptual artists
1987 births
Living people
Artists from Johannesburg
University of Cape Town alumni
Artists from Amsterdam
Artists from Cape Town