Category: Uncategorized

Eshun, Ekow (2022) In the Black Fantastic. Cambridge, Massachusettes, US: MIT Press. Available here

Canossi, Lesly. & Lopez-Diago, Zoraida. Eds (2022) Black Matrilineage, Photography, and Representation: Another Way of Knowing. Leuven, Belgium: Leuven University Press. Available here

Khan, Sharlene (2021) Thinking Through Black Feminist Creative Visualization through the Postcolonial Masquerades of South African Visual Artists Mary Sibande and Senzeni Marasela. In Sasinda Futhi Siselapha (Still Here): Black Feminist Approaches to Cultural Studies in South Africa’s Twenty Six Years Since 1994. Derilene (Dee) Marco, Tiffany Willoughby-Herard & Abebe Zegeye, Eds. New Jersey: Africa World Press. 23-49.
Available here

Walters, Tracey (2021) The Art of Dressing Up in Mary Sibande’s Long Live the Dead Queen. In Not Your Mother’s Mammy: The Black Domestic Worker in Transatlantic Women’s Media. New Jersey, US: Rutgers University Press.
Available here

Mersmann, Birgit (2019) Remodeling the Past, Cross-dressing the Future Postcolonial Self-Fashioning for the Global Art Market. In Fashion and Postcolonial Critique. Elke Gaugele & Monica Titton, Eds. Berlin: Sternberg Press. 118-201.
Available here

Hennlich, Andrew (2016) After the Thrill is Gone: Fashion, Politics, and Culture in Contemporary South African Art.
Available here

Foli, Jessica (2012) The Recreation of an Imagined Reality in Mary Sibande’s Long Live the Dead Queen Series according to the socio-cultural aspects of Clothing. In Africa and beyond: arts and sustainable development. United Kingdom: Cambridge Scholars Publishers. 372-390.
Available here

Journal Articles on Mary Sibande

Ibos, Caroline (2019) Subalterns can dream. Mary Sibande and the resistance of South African domestic workers. Societies & Representations. 48(2): 239-254.
Available here

Henderson, Patricia (2018) Cloth as a membrane of the imagination in the artwork of Mary Sibande. Anthropology Southern Africa. 41(3): 175-184.
Available here

Scheffer, Anne., Stevens, Ingrid. & du Preez, Amanda. 2017. Hysterical Representation in the Art of Mary Sibande. de arte. 52(2-3): 4-28.
Available here

Farber, Leora. 2017. Parodying the Hysteric as a Form of Empowerment in Mary Sibande’s Exhibition The Purple Shall Govern. TEXTILE. 15(4): 428-441.
Available here

Benson, India. 2017. Artistic Juxtaposition: The Vulnerability and Strength of Black South African Women in Mary Sibande’s Sophie Series. Global Africana Review. 1(1): 44-54. Available here

Corrigall, Mary (2015) Sartorial excess in Mary Sibande’s ‘Sophie’. Critical Arts. 29(2): 146-164.
Available here

Goniwe, Thembinkosi (2011) DESIRE: Ideal Narratives in Contemporary South African Art South Africa’s exhibition at the Venice Biennale, 4 June–27 November 2011. African Identities. 9(2): 247-248.
Available here

Brown, Carol (2011) Recent Acquisitions at Two South African Collections: UNISA and Durban Art Gallery. African Arts. 44(3): 76-83.
Available here

Dodd, Alexandra (2010) Dressed to thrill: the Victorian postmodern and counter-archival imaginings in the work of Mary Sibande. Critical Arts: A Journal of South-North Cultural Studies. 24(3): 467-474.
Available here

Theses and dissertations on or featuring the work of Mary Sibande

Gcilitshane, Lerato (2021) Re-Painting the Mainstream Archive Black: A Close Reading of the Iconography on Instagram by Mary Sibande, Zanele Muholi, Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi and Lady Skollie. MA Thesis. University of the Witwatersrand.
Available here

Van Rensburg, C Jansen (2021) The metamorphosis of Sibande’s hysterical Sophie in Long Live the Dead Queen, The Purple Shall Govern, I Came Apart at the Seams. MA Thesis. North-West University.
Available here

Nkosinkulu, Zingisa (2020) DECOLONISING THE FIGURE OF SOPHIE: A FANONIAN ANALYSIS OF MARY SIBANDE’S CONTEMPORARY VISUAL ARTWORKS. PhD Thesis. The University of South Africa.
Available here

Bolton, Kylie (2020) Political Fashioning: Aesthetics, art and activism in South Africa 2013-2018. MA Thesis. Stellenbosch University.
Available here

von Carnap, Nisha (2017) Constructing the self: Sophie and the negotiation of space. MA Thesis. University of the Witwatersrand.
Available here

Khan, Sharlene (2015) Postcolonial Masquerading: A Critical Analysis of Masquerading Strategies in the Artworks of Contemporary South African Visual Artists Anton Kannemeyer, Tracey Rose, Mary Sibande, Senzeni Marasela and Nandipha Mntambo. PhD Thesis. Goldsmiths, University of London.
Available here

Dodd, Alexandra (2014) Secular Séance Post-Victorian embodiment in contemporary South African art. PhD Thesis. University of Cape Town.
Available here

Singer, Alison (2012) “Sophie” Reigns over Dominant Display Practices: Negotiating Power in Mary Sibande’s Installations. MA Thesis. The University of Texas at Austin.
Available here

Selected reviews

Khan, Sharlene (2022) “History is a liar”: Mary Sibande’s Theatre of Red. Contemporary And. Available here

Moloi, Nkgopoleng (2022) Mary Sibande’s ‘A Red Flight of Fancy’. Bubblegumclub.
Available here

Mkhwanazi, Nomvelo (2022) Sophie tells us about red. IOL. 11 June 2022.
Available here

Stielau, Anna (Date unknown) Mary Sibande. ArtThrob.
Available here

Scott, Chadd (2021) Mary Sibande sculptures and photographs of South Africa at Frist Art Museum. See Great Art. 2 October 2021.
Available here

Karibo, Joke (2019) Mary Sibande. Nataal. 10 August 2019.
Available here

Ibrahim, Hodain (2019) Creative Careers Academy Insights: Mary Sibande. Somerset House. 20 December 2019.
Available here

Smith, Tymon (2018) Mary Sibande’s ‘A Crescendo Of Ecstasy’. ArtThrob. 22 June 2018.
Available here

Parsons, Elly (2016) Mary Sibande’s alter ego tells the story of post-apartheid South Africa. Apollo. 21 October 2016.
Available here

Perold, Jana (2016) Student Review: Mary Sibande’s ‘Right now’. 09 May 2016.
Available here

Selected online articles

Liam, Winifred (2022) Mary Sibande Explores Issues of Race, Gender, and Labour Through her Artistic Alter Ego, “Sophie”. Prazzle Magazine. 9 July 2022.
Available here

Nair, Shraddha (2020) South African artist Mary Sibande discusses Sophie, her alter ego. Stir World. 17 October 2020.
Available here

Ebert, Grace (2020) Sprawling Roots and Richly Hued Gowns Permeate Mary Sibande’s Postcolonial Artworks. Colossal. 15 June 2020.
Available here

Bahadur, Tulika (2020) MARY SIBANDE: TELLING A DIFFERENT STORY OF LABOUR, RACE AND GENDER IN SOUTH AFRICA. On Art and Aesthetics. 11 January 2020.
Available here

Morganthesailer (2019) Mary Sibande. Beyond the Single Story. 4 November 2019.
Available here

Caradonio, Jackie (2019) Mary Sibande’s Art Tells the Political—and Personal—Story of Apartheid. Robb Report. 1 May 2019.
Available here

Shinners, Keely (2016) The Contemporaries: Mary Sibande. ArtThrob. 8 August 2016.
Available here

Meekison, Lisa (2014) The many incarnations of Mary Sibande. SCOPE.
Available here


Selected Interviews

Mofokeng, Lesley (2013) The Interview – Mary Sibande: Purple shall govern. News24. 07 July 2013.
Available here

Elisabeth Wellershaus (2013) “Sophie is not the only strong woman populating our art scene at the moment”: A conversation with the artist Mary Sibande. Contemporary And. 24 June 2013.
Available here

Selected online news articles

Dlomo, Londiwe (2022) A common thread runs through the art of Dorothy Kay and Mary Sibande. Sowetan Live. 19 July 2022.
Available here

Gibbon, Declan (2022) MARY SIBANDE MEETS DOROTHY KAY IN A PROVOCATIVE EXHIBITION. BusinessDay Wanted. 12 July 2022.
Available here

Mthembu, Lumumba (2022) See through the Red Mist. Mail and Guardian. 8 July 2022.
Available here

Bizcommunity (2022) Mary Sibande opens art exhibition in Durban. 1 June 2022.
Available here

Sesay, Nadia (Date unknown) These African Women Artists Discuss Using Art as a Language of Resistance to Patriarchy. Okayafrica.
Available here

Tyilo, Malibongwe (2021) Iconic South African Works: Mary Sibande’s ‘The Reign’. Daily Maverick. 22 June 2021.
Available here

Mitic, Ginanne (2019) Mary Sibande re-imagines the story of South Africa’s domestic workers. CNN. 7 November 2019.
Available here

Jaggi, Maya (2019) Mary Sibande: ‘If South Africans didn’t get angry, nothing would get done’. The Financial Times. 3 October 2019.
Available here

Corrigall, Mary (2017) Mary Sibande pushes the envelope with post-apartheid contradictions. Times Live.
Available here

Bidouzo-Coudray, Joyce (2014) Mary Sibande – poking at power relations in post-apartheid South Africa. The Guardian. 7 January 2014.
Available here

Zvomuya, Percy (2012) Talent that needs no kick-start. The Mail & Guardian. 12 November 2012.
Available here

Cadwalladr, Carole (2012) New Africa: the South African artist addressing her family’s past. The Guardian. 26 August 2012.
Available here

Selected YouTube Videos featuring Mary Sibande

In conversation with Mary Sibande. 1 August 2022. Strauss& Co.
Watch here

Building a World of Self-Governance: Mary Sibande’s The Purple Shall Govern. 16 December 2021. (re)presenting Africa.
Watch here

Artist’s Perspective with Mary Sibande. 20 October 2021. Frist Art Muesum.
Watch here

Art Across Borders – Mary Sibande. 20 September 2021. ART X Media.
Watch here

Dr. Lanisa Kitchiner presents her research on South African artist Mary Sibande. 5 May 2021. KSU Museum.
Watch here

Entretien avec Mary Sibande. 26 February 2021. Frac Nouvelle-Aquitaine MÉCA.
Watch here

Turbine Art Fair 2020 Special Project: Tactile Visions-Woven, Mary Sibande. 13 August 2020. ART ON OUR MIND – AOOM.
Watch here

1-54 LONDON 2019 | MARY SIBANDE : I CAME APART AT THE SEAMS. 31 October 2019. 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair.
Watch here

Mary Sibande: I Came Apart at the Seams. 30 October 2019. Somerset House.
Watch here

A Reversed Retrogress: Mary Sibande. 25 November 2016. The British Museum.
Watch here

Creating change with young South African women. 3 August 2016. Actionaid South Africa AASA.
Watch here

Standard Bank Young Artist Award 2013 -Mary Sibande (Visual Art). 14 November 2012. National Arts Festival.
Watch here

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2022
The Wake, Kunstpalais, Erlangen, Germany.
Let me tell you about Red…, Durban Art Gallery, Durban, South Africa.
The Red Ventriloquist, MAC Lyon – Musée d’art Contemporain de Lyon, Lyon, France.
A Red Flight of Fancy, SMAC Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.

2021
Blue, Purple, Red, Frist Art Museum, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
Unhand Me, Demon!, Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago, USA.

2019
I Came Apart at the Seams, 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, Somerset House, London, UK.
Leroy Neiman Gallery, New York City, USA.

2018
The Armory Show (Gallery MOMO), Piers 92 & 94, New York City, USA.
A Crescendo of Ecstasy, presented by The Mixed Reality Workshop (TMRW) in collaboration with Eden Labs, Keyes Art Mile; FNB Joburg Art Fair (TMRW), Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa.

2016
Right Now!, as part of Stellenbosch University’s Woordfees Festival, Stellenbosch University’s Art Museum, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
The Armory Show (Gallery MOMO), 92 & 94 Piers, New York City, USA.

2014
The Purple Shall Govern, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town; Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.

2013
Lyon Biennale of Contemporary Art, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Lyon, France.
The Purple Shall Govern, Grahamstown National Arts Festival Grahamstown; Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Museum, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
The Purple Shall Govern, MAC/VAL Musée d’Art Contemporain di Val-de-Marne, Paris, France.
Mary Sibande and Sophie Ntombikayise Take Central Court, Central Court, Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA.
The Purple Shall Govern, MAC/VAL The Musée d’Art Contemporain du Val-de-Marne, Vitry-sur-Seine, France; IZIKO South African National Gallery, Cape Town ; North-West
University Gallery, North-West University, Potchefstroom; Tatham Art Gallery, Pietermaritzburg; Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg, The National Arts Festival,
Grahamstown; Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

2012
Mary Sibande and Sophie Ntombikayise Take Central Court, Central Court, Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA.

2010
Long Live the Dead Queen, Inner City Johannesburg, Exhibition of billboards on 19 buildings, Johannesburg, The Albany History Museum; Grahamstown, South Africa.

2009
Long live the Dead Queen, Gallery MOMO, Johannesburg, South Africa.

2006
My Madam’s Things, Gordart Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Selected Group Exhibitions

2023
[upcoming] Textile Biennial, Museum Rijswijk, Netherlands
Sharjah Biennial 15, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

2022
FNB Art Joburg (SMAC Gallery), Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Dream Invisible Connections: Mary Sibande & Dorothy Kay, Strauss & Co, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Inner Landscapes, Bloom Galerie, Geneva, Switzerland.
Art Brussels (SMAC Gallery), Tour & Taxis, Brussels, Belgium.
Klein Karoo National Arts Festival (KKNK), Oudtshoorn, South Africa.
Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), Cape Town, South Africa.

2021
Art Basel Miami Beach (Kavi Gupta), Miami Beach, USA.
West Bund Art & Design Fair (Bloom Galerie), West Bund Dome, Xuhui District, Shanghai, China.
Paris Photo Fair (Braverman Gallery), Braverman Gallery, Paris, France.
Weekend Special, Cape Town Art Weekend, SMAC Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.
Opening Exhibition, FNB Art Joburg, SMAC Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.
TEXTURES: The History and Art of Black Hair, Kent State University, Ohio, USA.
Investec Cape Town Art Fair (SMAC Gallery), Digital Event.
Black Luminosity, curated by Gcotyelwa Mashiqa, SMAC Gallery, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Margins of Error, NIROX Foundation Sculpture Park, Krugersdorp, South Africa.

2020
BredaPhoto, Breda, Netherlands.
Investec Cape Town Art Fair (SMAC Gallery), Cape Town International Convention
Centre (CTICC), Cape Town, South Africa.
Reclaiming Power: Womxn and Intersecting Inequalities, Oxfam South Africa, The Worker’s Museum, Johannesburg, South Africa.
NOW LOOK HERE. The African Art of Appearance, Asterweg 17, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Making of Ourselves, BKHZ, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Radical Revisionists: Contemporary African Artists Confronting Past and Present,
Moody Centre for the Arts – Rice University, Houston, USA.
Soos Familie / Like Family, Rupert Museum, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

2019
Ngoma: Art and Cosmology, curated by Musha Neluheni, Philippa van Straaten
& Khwezi Gule, Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG), Johannesburg, South Africa.
Felix Fair (Kavi Gupta), Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Los Angeles, USA.
Art Basel Miami (Kavi Gupta), Miami Beach, Miami, USA.
arteBOTANICA, Nirox Sculpture Park, Krugersdorp, South Africa.
Frieze London (Kavi Gupta), Regents Park, London, UK.
1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair (SMAC Gallery), Somerset House, London, UK.
To Reclaim, Kavi Gupta, Chicago, USA.
That Was Then, SMAC Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.
My Africa. Our Art, Javett Art Centre, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Open Borders, 14ª Curitiba International Biennial of Contemporary Art, Curitiba, Brazil.
N’GOLÁ Festival of Arts, Creation, Environment and Utopias, São Tomé e Príncipe.
Ampersand Foundation Award 21 years celebration exhibition,
University of Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG), South Africa.
FNB Art Joburg (SMAC Gallery), Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Construction of the Possible, Havana Biennale, Havana, Cuba.
Made Visible, Contemporary South African Fashion and Identity, Boston Museum of Fine Art, Boston, USA.

2018
The Red Hour, curated by Simon Njami, Dak’Art: African Contemporary Art Biennale, Dakar, Senegal.
In Their Own Form, Museum of Contemporary Photography(MoCP), Chicago, USA.
Shifting Boundaries: A Selection of Works showcasing South African Women Artists
of the Past 100 Years, Welgemeend, Cape Town, South Africa.
Not a Single Story, a collaboration between NIROX Foundation & The Wanås Foundation, Nirox Foundation Sculpture Park, Cradle of Human Kind, South Africa.
Continental Drift: Black / blak Art from South Africa and North Australia, Cairns Art Gallery, Cairns, Australia.
Like Life: Sculpture, Color, and the Body (1300–Now), The Met Breuer, New York City, USA.
Cultural Threads, TextielMuseum, Tilburg, Netherlands.
Friends50, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.
Extra/Ordinary, curated by Ceren & Irkman Arkman, Plugin New Media Section, Contemporary Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey.

2017
South Africa: The Art of a Nation, The British Museum, London, UK.
All things being equal, Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African (MOCAA),
Cape Town, South Africa.
African Mosaic: Selections from the Permanent Collection, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C, USA.
Dress Code, Gallery MOMO, Cape Town, South Africa.
1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair (Gallery Momo), Somerset House, London, UK.
Art on Paper, Gallery MOMO, Johannesburg, South Africa. Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), Cape Town, South Africa.
The Evidence of Things Not Seen, Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG), Johannesburg, South Africa.
Another Antipodes/Urban Axis, PS Art Space, Fremantle, Australia.
Beauty and Its Beasts, Durban Art Gallery, Durban, South Africa.
Identitet/Identity Avesta Kommun, Verket/Avesta Art, Sweden.
Deep Memory, Kalmar konstmuseum, Kalmar, Sweden.

2016
Different Angels, Höhenrausch Linz, Austria.
Desire, Association of Arts Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Re[as]sisting Narratives [Travelling Exhibition], Framer Framded, Amsterdam, Netherlands; District Six Museum Homecoming Centre, Cape Town, South Africa.
A Place in Time, Nirox Foundation Sculpture Park, Krugersdorp, South Africa.
Selling the Shadow, curated by Ayana V Jackson, Gallery MOMO, Cape Town, South Africa.
Chicago Expo (Gallery MOMO) Chicago, USA.
After the Thrill is Gone, Fashion Politics and Culture South Africa, Richmond Center for Visual Arts, USA.
South Africa the Art of a Nation, British Museum, London ,UK.

2015
Barriers – Contemporary South Africa, Wanås Konst Sculpture Park, Knislinge, Sweden.
Art_textile, The Whitworth, Manchester, UK.
Between the Art and the Experience, Havana Biennial, Havana, Cuba.
Twenty: Art in the Time of Democracy, UJ Arts Centre, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa.
ReSignifications: Imagining the Black Body and Re-Staging Histories, Museo Bardini, Florence, Italy.
South African Art in a Time of Democracy, 6th Beijing International Art Biennale, Beijing, China.

2014
Where do I end and you begin?, Edinburgh Festival of Arts, Scotland.
Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, Toronto, Canada.
Material Self: Performing the Other Within, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, Toronto, Canada.

2013
Say it Loud!: Art by African and African-American Artists in the Collection, Norton Museum of Art, Florida, USA.
My Joburg, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden, Germany; La Maison Rouge, Paris, France.
Family Histories, Dishman Art Museum, Lamar University, Beaumont, USA.
Sibande on Campus: Mary Sibande Installation/New Work, Institute for the Humanities Gallery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Meanwhile…. Suddenly and Then, 12th Lyon Biennale, Lyon, France.

2012
Recent Additions: 2009-2012, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.
The Rainbow Nation: Contemporary Sculpture from South Africa, Museum Beelden aan Zee, Hague, Netherlands.
Somehow, Somewhat in the middle of things, Liefhertje en De Grote Witte Reus Gallery, Hague, Netherlands.
Say it loud, Norton Museum of Art, Palm Beach, Florida, USA.

2011
(Re)constructions, Contemporary Art from South Africa, Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Niterói (MAC), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
ARS 11, Kiasma Museum for Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland.
Desire, Narratives in Contemporary South African Art, 54th Venice Biennale (South African Pavilion), Venice, Italy.
Paris Photo, Grand Palais, Paris, France.
BEYOND Re/PRODUCTION. MOTHERING, Kunstraum Kreuzberg / Bethanien, Berlin, Germany.

2010
From Pierneef to Gugulective: 1910-2010, Iziko South African National Gallery,
Cape Town, South Africa.
l’Exposition du Festival Mondial des Arts Nègres, Dakar, Senegal.
Space: Currencies in Contemporary African Art, curated by Thembinkosi Goniwe & Melissa Mboweni, Museum Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa.

2008
Four Tales, Gallery MOMO, Johannesburg, South Africa.

2007
Dark and lovely (5 Women), Gordart Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.
I Love you Positive or Negative, Espace Simon Michel, Paris, France.

2006
Sasol Miniatures Exhibition Sasol, Johannesburg, South Africa.
ABSA L’ATELIER Awards Top 50 exhibition, ABSA Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.
I Love You Positive or Negative, Alliance Francaise, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Selected talks

2023

Reflecting on the idea of ‘home’ with Lebohang Kganye: Foam x Pakhuis de Zwijger (2023). Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam.
Available here

2019

Photo Albums and the Relationship with Oral Histories as a Means of Interpreting our Past. Delivered at the Tate Museum’s FastForward conference. 2019.

Talk available here

Selected works 1980-1990

Untitled (Royal College of Art, 1980s) 56 x 41 cm
Untitled (1987) 76 x 63,5 cm, etching
What will become of you (1987), 76 x 56 cm, etching
Untitled (1988) 79 x 61 cm, oil on board
Untitled (1988) 137 x 152 cm, oil on board
Light vibrates with pleasure at the small of pire tragedy and restless nights (n.d)
No 10 (n.d)