Mary Sibande (b. 1982, Barberton, South Africa) currently lives and works in Johannesburg, South Africa. Sibande earned an Honours degree from the University of Johannesburg in 2007, following a Diploma in Fine Arts from the Witwatersrand Technical College in 2004. Her notable awards include the Helgaard Steyn Prize for Sculpture (2021), the Smithsonian National Museum of African Arts Award (2017), and the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Visual Arts (2013).
Sibande has participated in several residencies and fellowships, such as the Virginia C. Gildersleeve Professorship at Barnard College, Columbia University (2018–2019) and the Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship (2011). Her solo exhibitions include The Red Ventriloquist at the Musée d’art Contemporain de Lyon in 2022, I Came Apart at the Seams at Somerset House in London (2019), and The Purple Shall Govern, a traveling exhibition across South Africa and Reunion Island (2013–2014).
Sibande’s works have been featured in prestigious collections worldwide, such as the Pérez Art Museum in Miami and The National Museum of African Art at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Her exhibitions and group shows have reached major international platforms, including the Venice Biennale (2011), the Havana Biennale (2019), and Paris Photo (2021).
In 2023, she was part of True Stories at MAC VAL, France, and participated in the Textile Biennial in Amsterdam. Upcoming events include Death and the Devil: The Fascination with the Gruesome at Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, and Cooking Cleaning Caring at the Josef Albers Museum, Germany (2024).
Sibande’s work engages with themes of memory, absence, and identity, often drawing from her personal experiences. In particular, her exploration of the absent father figure resonates through her iconic depiction of the Red Figure, which embodies themes of power, vulnerability, and societal expectations of black women in post-apartheid South Africa. Through her art, she deconstructs traditional narratives of history, heroism, and visibility, challenging how we perceive monumental figures in both public spaces and personal memory.
REFERENCES: Jamal, A. 2017. In the world : essays on contemporary South African art. Milano, Italy: Skira editore S.p.A.
