Simon Njami is a writer and an independent curator, lecturer, art critic and essayist.
Contemporary African art is commonly understood to be art made by artists in Africa and the African diaspora in the post-independence era. However, there are about as many understandings of contemporary African art as there are curators, scholars and artists working in that field. All three terms of this "wide-reaching non-category [sic]" are problematic in themselves: What exactly is "contemporary", what makes art "African", and when are we talking about art and not any other kind of creative expression?
David Nthubu Koloane was a South African artist. In his drawings, paintings and collages he explored questions about political injustice and human rights. Koloane is considered to have been "an influential artist and writer of the apartheid years" in South Africa.
Mbongeni Buthelezi, born 1966 in Johannesburg in South Africa, is an artist who became known for "painting" in plastic.
Tom Cullberg is an artist born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1972. He currently lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa.
Peter Eastman is a South African artist living in Cape Town.
Cedric Nunn is a South African photographer best known for his photography depicting the country before and after the end of apartheid.
Mary Sibande is a South African artist based in Johannesburg. Her art consists of sculptures, paintings, photography, and design. Sibande uses these mediums and techniques to help depict the human form and explore the construction of identity in a postcolonial South African context. In addition, Sibande focuses on using her work to show her personal experiences through Apartheid. Her art also attempts to critique stereotypical depictions of women, particularly black women.
Wim Botha is a South African contemporary artist.
Michèle Magema, born in Kinshasa in 1977, is a Congolese-French video, performance, and photography artist. She was born in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo in 1977. She emigrated to Paris, France in 1984, and currently resides in Nevers.
Gallery MOMO is a South African contemporary art gallery, which represents South African and international artists at its exhibition spaces in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Masimba Hwati is an interdisciplinary artist from Zimbabwe, working internationally at the intersections of sculpture, performance, and sound, known for his unconventional three-dimensional mixed media sculptures. Hwati graduated from Harare Polytechnic School of Art and Design in 2003 where he majored in Ceramics and Painting. Hwati taught Visual Arts and 3D Art at Harare Polytechnic School of Art and Design. He is a PhD Candidate at Akademie Der Bildenden Künste Wien ,Österreich,an MFA from Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design University of Michigan, Ann Arbor He was most recently, included in the Montreal Museum of Fine Art's (MMFA) exhibition, Face To Face: From Yesterday to Today, Non-Western Art and Picasso. In 2015, he was also one of three artists selected for Pixels Of Ubuntu/Unhu for the Zimbabwean Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale. He is an honorary research fellow at Rhodes University Fine Arts Department in Grahamstown, South Africa.
Wayne Barker, South African visual artist. Barker is based in Johannesburg. He rose to prominence in the late 80s, at the height of political unrest under the Apartheid regime. His work has featured in several global biennales, art fairs and important retrospective exhibitions. He works in various mediums, including but not limited to painting, printmaking, sculpture, video, performance and installation. In addition to collaborations with other artists, Barker has collaborated with the Qubeka Beadwork Studio based in Cape Town, to realise large scale glass beadworks.
Emo de Medeiros is a Beninese artist living and working in Paris, France and in Cotonou, Benin.
Jacob van Schalkwyk is a South African visual artist and writer.
Joël Claude Mpah Dooh, born in Nkongsamba (Cameroon) in 1954, is a visual artist who lives and works in Douala.
Senzeni Marasela is a South African visual artist born in Thokoza who works across different media, combining performance, photography, video, prints, textiles and embroidery in mixed-medium installations. She obtained a BA in Fine Arts at the Wits School of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in 1998. Her work is exhibited in South Africa, Europe and the United States, and part of local and international collections, including Museum of Modern Art or the Newark Museum and is referenced in numerous academic papers, theses journal and book publications.
Mmakgabo Mmapula Mmangankato Helen Sebidi is a South African artist born in Marapyane (Skilpadfontein) near Hamanskraal, Pretoria who lives and works in Johannesburg. Sebidi's work has been represented in private and public collections, including at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington and New York the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, New York, and the World Bank. Her work has been recognised internationally and locally. In 1989 she won the Standard Bank Young Artist award, becoming the first black woman to win the award. In 2004, President Thabo Mbeki awarded her the Order of Ikhamanga in Silver – which is the highest honor given to those considered a "national treasure". In 2011, she was awarded the Arts and Culture Trust (ACT) Lifetime Achievement Award for Visual Art, whilst in 2015 she received the Mbokodo Award. In September 2018, Sebidi was honoured with one of the first solo presentations at the Norval Foundation in Cape Town – a retrospective entitled Batlhaping Ba Re.
Sam Nhlengethwa South African creative collage artist and the co-founder of Bag Factory Artists' Studio.
Sabelo Mlangeni is a South African photographer living and working in Johannesburg, South Africa. His work is held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Walther Collection.
