Lerato Shadi, I know what a closed fist means (2020) | Site-specific installation of photographic prints on board, dimensions variable | Installation view at Kunstverein in Hamburg
I know what a closed fist means continues Shadi’s interrogation of supposedly universal assumptions, emphasized through subjective readings of her art. Four oversized photographs depict raised fists with the position of the thumb in each image having a variety of associated meanings that differ depending on the viewer’s own cultural background. The work’s title contradicts the endless possibility for interpretation of the individually raised fists - Shadi makes it clear that knowledge and experience are always connected to one’s own perspective and cannot be easily generalized.
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Lerato Shadi, Ngono Le Nna (2020) | Site-specific installation, dimensions variable | Installation view, KINDL – Centre for Contemporary Art, Berlin
Ngono Le Nna is closely tied with the notion of “we”, where Shadi is thinking of herself in relation to her family history. Distance is articulated through the space between the wall-based neon X and Shadi’s signature. The X represents the artist’s great grandmother, Ngono, or rather it (re)inscribes her, bringing her into relation with the artist. It is a way of describing what it means to be close to or far away from each other. […] Through this work, Shadi presents us with a question of her own; what is the space between me and the furthest traceable matriarch in my lineage? Perhaps the space between is lost knowledge – the differences between western epistemology and historical and customary epistemology.
I know what a closed fist means continues Shadi’s interrogation of supposedly universal assumptions, emphasized through subjective readings of her art. Four oversized photographs depict raised fists with the position of the thumb in each image having a variety of associated meanings that differ depending on the viewer’s own cultural background. The work’s title contradicts the endless possibility for interpretation of the individually raised fists - Shadi makes it clear that knowledge and experience are always connected to one’s own perspective and cannot be easily generalized.
Lerato Shadi, Ngono Le Nna (2020) | Site-specific installation, dimensions variable | Installation view, KINDL – Centre for Contemporary Art, Berlin
Ngono Le Nna is closely tied with the notion of “we”, where Shadi is thinking of herself in relation to her family history. Distance is articulated through the space between the wall-based neon X and Shadi’s signature. The X represents the artist’s great grandmother, Ngono, or rather it (re)inscribes her, bringing her into relation with the artist. It is a way of describing what it means to be close to or far away from each other. […] Through this work, Shadi presents us with a question of her own; what is the space between me and the furthest traceable matriarch in my lineage? Perhaps the space between is lost knowledge – the differences between western epistemology and historical and customary epistemology.
Lerato Shadi, Batho ba me (2020) | Text based neon installation on red wall, approx. 400 x 550 cm | Installation view at Neuer Berliner Kunstverein | link to artist statement
In her installations, performances, and video works, Lerato Shadi points out processes of suppression, exclusion, and erasure. The spaces of remembrance and visibility she creates invite reflection on the position of the artist and on the subjects she deals with, as well as a critical examination of the role of the viewer. Her work engages in questions concerning the possibilities of one’s own actions and the constitution of future communities. Her work Batho ba me, created for the exhibition, quotes the opening phrase “We the people” found in the constitutions of numerous states and expands it to pose the question “Are we the people?” Like all the titles of her works, which are in Shadi’s native language Setswana, Batho ba me (“My people”) points to a lived context that not everyone can access, thus questioning how the notion of a “we” is formed. The “own” people who are addressed in political speeches often indicate a certain group of voters. The structural exclusion that underpins assumed and legal groups like these has to be continuously questioned. — Michaela Richter, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, 2020
In her installations, performances, and video works, Lerato Shadi points out processes of suppression, exclusion, and erasure. The spaces of remembrance and visibility she creates invite reflection on the position of the artist and on the subjects she deals with, as well as a critical examination of the role of the viewer. Her work engages in questions concerning the possibilities of one’s own actions and the constitution of future communities. Her work Batho ba me, created for the exhibition, quotes the opening phrase “We the people” found in the constitutions of numerous states and expands it to pose the question “Are we the people?” Like all the titles of her works, which are in Shadi’s native language Setswana, Batho ba me (“My people”) points to a lived context that not everyone can access, thus questioning how the notion of a “we” is formed. The “own” people who are addressed in political speeches often indicate a certain group of voters. The structural exclusion that underpins assumed and legal groups like these has to be continuously questioned. — Michaela Richter, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, 2020
Lerato Shadi, Series #1–4 (2020) | Site-specific installation, dimensions variable | Installation view, KINDL – Centre for Contemporary Art, Berlin
Made from virgin wool on raw linen, Series #1–4 (whose titles are yet to announce themselves) is a return to perfomativity. Mounted on the wall; a set of three rectangles, a single square and a vertical rectangle resembling a doorway, the works have considerable presence. Movement is the first language as the work is informed by small repetitive gestures accumulated over time. The works in Series #1–4 are connected to the process of fasting, which Shadi uses as a method to remind the body to pay attention. In this sense, the body is not merely a porous absorbent but it works to produce its own forms of knowledge.
Lerato Shadi, Mosako Wa Nako (2014 - ongoing) | Performance and installation, installation dimensions variable, duration 10 days | Installation view, Neue Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.), Berlin
Shadi speaks of Mosako Wa Nako as a red river. It is the product of 60 hours of labour, which Shadi carries out publicly over the course of 10 days. It is a futuristic work, a call for the brave to carve their own tomorrows while acknowledging the stasis of today. The crocheted object is rendered as a representation of silent narratives and acts as an architectural feature that divides the space. As M. Neelika Jayawardane states: “In highlighting work that is usually associated with feminised—and therefore often inconspicuous and devalued labour, Shadi focuses our attention to the meditative quality of her actions. Bringing the experience of meditation into her labour allows her to be present in her body and in the present moment-to-moment of labour, and for us, as her audience, to be similarly mindful in the space”.
Shadi speaks of Mosako Wa Nako as a red river. It is the product of 60 hours of labour, which Shadi carries out publicly over the course of 10 days. It is a futuristic work, a call for the brave to carve their own tomorrows while acknowledging the stasis of today. The crocheted object is rendered as a representation of silent narratives and acts as an architectural feature that divides the space. As M. Neelika Jayawardane states: “In highlighting work that is usually associated with feminised—and therefore often inconspicuous and devalued labour, Shadi focuses our attention to the meditative quality of her actions. Bringing the experience of meditation into her labour allows her to be present in her body and in the present moment-to-moment of labour, and for us, as her audience, to be similarly mindful in the space”.
Lerato Shadi, Tlhogo (2010) | Durational performance, approx. 2.5 hours | Installation view, Dakar Biennale 2012
For the performance Tlhogo, Shadi crochets a cocoon from hand-spun wool of various origins. The red woollen sheath is created specifically to fit her body, with just enough space left open for her to enter it. The performance takes place on a plinth in the gallery. First the artist struggles into the woollen cover and closes up the entrance by crocheting it from the inside. For the rest of the duration of the performance, the swaddled body lies motionless on the plinth, a 'living object'. At first glance the viewer is unable to tell that the 'object' is alive - only on close inspection does the movement of breathing become noticeable. The artist/performer changes position four times during the course of the evening, to relieve the body and to create a different sculptural image. Finally, Shadi liberates herself from the woollen cover, leaving behind the crocheted 'relic'.
For the performance Tlhogo, Shadi crochets a cocoon from hand-spun wool of various origins. The red woollen sheath is created specifically to fit her body, with just enough space left open for her to enter it. The performance takes place on a plinth in the gallery. First the artist struggles into the woollen cover and closes up the entrance by crocheting it from the inside. For the rest of the duration of the performance, the swaddled body lies motionless on the plinth, a 'living object'. At first glance the viewer is unable to tell that the 'object' is alive - only on close inspection does the movement of breathing become noticeable. The artist/performer changes position four times during the course of the evening, to relieve the body and to create a different sculptural image. Finally, Shadi liberates herself from the woollen cover, leaving behind the crocheted 'relic'.
Lerato Shadi, Seriti Se (2016) | Performance and installation, dimensions variable | Installation view, Goethe Institut, Johannesburg
The performance, drawing and installation Seriti Se looks at the politics of historical erasure, specifically of Black females and their achievements and contributions within various fields. Seriti Se thematises everyday violence enacted within institutional structures and the different strategies employed within those systems. During the performance, names of historical women of colour, who have been excluded and erased from world history, are written on the white walls of the gallery. The audience is then invited to choose a name and paint over the chosen name. In the act of erasing a name, the gallery space is turned back to white. No information is provided on who the women on the wall are; therefore it becomes the duty of the one who is erasing the name to take responsibility for the name by further informing themselves.
The performance, drawing and installation Seriti Se looks at the politics of historical erasure, specifically of Black females and their achievements and contributions within various fields. Seriti Se thematises everyday violence enacted within institutional structures and the different strategies employed within those systems. During the performance, names of historical women of colour, who have been excluded and erased from world history, are written on the white walls of the gallery. The audience is then invited to choose a name and paint over the chosen name. In the act of erasing a name, the gallery space is turned back to white. No information is provided on who the women on the wall are; therefore it becomes the duty of the one who is erasing the name to take responsibility for the name by further informing themselves.
Lerato Shadi, Makhubu (2014) | Performative drawing and installation, dimensions variable | Installation view, Iniva, London
Shadi's drawing performance, Makhubu, is divided into two parts; in the first half of the performance she writes texts in circles directly in the gallery wall, and in the second half she then erases what she has written. This process is repeated three times. This work is based on the understanding that the artist is not in control of the archive of her own history, and attempts to reconcile the difference between what is on record and her actual, lived experience. Shadi wants to bring about an awareness of the biased nature of historical 'fact', and that whoever is in control of the archive of history has the power to affect the perception of it as well as the future. In Makhubu, Shadi writes specifically about the possible future of her own life, and the place that her artistic practice may have in our collective history.
Shadi's drawing performance, Makhubu, is divided into two parts; in the first half of the performance she writes texts in circles directly in the gallery wall, and in the second half she then erases what she has written. This process is repeated three times. This work is based on the understanding that the artist is not in control of the archive of her own history, and attempts to reconcile the difference between what is on record and her actual, lived experience. Shadi wants to bring about an awareness of the biased nature of historical 'fact', and that whoever is in control of the archive of history has the power to affect the perception of it as well as the future. In Makhubu, Shadi writes specifically about the possible future of her own life, and the place that her artistic practice may have in our collective history.
Lerato Shadi, Mabogo Dinku (2019)| Single channel video work with audio 00:06:00
In the video Mabogo Dinku, Shadi’s hand makes enigmatic gestures and she sings a folk verse in Setswana. But she provides no subtitles or guidance on what the words and gestures mean because she is narrating the un-narratable, the history of her people, marginalized during apartheid in South Africa. The history she was taught at school is the history of the colonizer, which she rejects, so what history can she tell? Furthermore, the translation of the language into English or other dominant western languages would pay homage to western languages as the universal one, continuing the boxing in of others’ mother tongues into the languages of the “other.”
Text by Winnie Sze
In the video Mabogo Dinku, Shadi’s hand makes enigmatic gestures and she sings a folk verse in Setswana. But she provides no subtitles or guidance on what the words and gestures mean because she is narrating the un-narratable, the history of her people, marginalized during apartheid in South Africa. The history she was taught at school is the history of the colonizer, which she rejects, so what history can she tell? Furthermore, the translation of the language into English or other dominant western languages would pay homage to western languages as the universal one, continuing the boxing in of others’ mother tongues into the languages of the “other.”
Text by Winnie Sze
Lerato Shadi, Re Maotwana Gonyela (2016 - 2018) | Single channel video, 00:11:15
In Re Maotwana Gonyela, a figure completely draped in red roams a landscape as the personified spirit of resistance. Sometimes they pause in contemplation, sometimes they wander through the tall grass, then stop again to perform mysterious movements. Their intentions and actions remain vague, oscillating between energetic and gentle moments and underlining the ghostly character of the figure. Apart from the figure, nothing indicates human presence, so that the scene has hardly any temporal or spatial coordinates. Thus, the spirit of resistance is detached from past, present and future and inscribed in a landscape in which their presence equally leaves their mark.
In Re Maotwana Gonyela, a figure completely draped in red roams a landscape as the personified spirit of resistance. Sometimes they pause in contemplation, sometimes they wander through the tall grass, then stop again to perform mysterious movements. Their intentions and actions remain vague, oscillating between energetic and gentle moments and underlining the ghostly character of the figure. Apart from the figure, nothing indicates human presence, so that the scene has hardly any temporal or spatial coordinates. Thus, the spirit of resistance is detached from past, present and future and inscribed in a landscape in which their presence equally leaves their mark.
Lerato Shadi, Motlhaba Wa Re Ke Namile (2016) | Single channel video projection, 00:07:30
The video Motlhaba Wa Re Ke Namile was shot on location in Shadi’s home village of Lotlhakane in Mahikeng, Northwest Province, South Africa. The video references the slave mask used on enslaved people; specifically how the mask was used to prevent the slaves from committing suicide through the act of consuming soil. The work looks at how the act of eating soil to commit suicide, has over the years been overlooked as a form of resistance. The video also makes reference to the challenges on land dispossession, belonging and displacement.
The video Motlhaba Wa Re Ke Namile was shot on location in Shadi’s home village of Lotlhakane in Mahikeng, Northwest Province, South Africa. The video references the slave mask used on enslaved people; specifically how the mask was used to prevent the slaves from committing suicide through the act of consuming soil. The work looks at how the act of eating soil to commit suicide, has over the years been overlooked as a form of resistance. The video also makes reference to the challenges on land dispossession, belonging and displacement.
Lerato Shadi, Sugar & Salt (2014) | Single channel video, 00:06:00
The video Sugar & Salt shows a mother and daughter who are licking sugar and salt from each other’s tongues - sugar being licked and consumed off the mother’s tongue and salt off the daughter’s tongue - against the backdrop of intricately ornamental pattern. The scenery acts as a vanishing point for the camera lens, at the same time the pattern creates a border between the two generations. The video looks at inter-generational relationships and narratives while using two substances - one a carbohydrate and the other a mineral - that look the same but are structurally different, thematising the interaction off screen.
The video Sugar & Salt shows a mother and daughter who are licking sugar and salt from each other’s tongues - sugar being licked and consumed off the mother’s tongue and salt off the daughter’s tongue - against the backdrop of intricately ornamental pattern. The scenery acts as a vanishing point for the camera lens, at the same time the pattern creates a border between the two generations. The video looks at inter-generational relationships and narratives while using two substances - one a carbohydrate and the other a mineral - that look the same but are structurally different, thematising the interaction off screen.
Lerato Shadi, Matsogo (2013) | Single channel video, 00:05:00
The video Matsogo shows a pair of hands crumbling a piece of cake and reforming it into the same wedge shape that references the original slice. Through the process of moving from deconstruction to reconstruction, the essence and consumability of the slice of cake is undermined and lost, as it is recreated into an object, that resembles and has the same elements, as the cake, but has lost its function. The soundtrack combines songs from two different popular Setswana folktales. The songs are mixed together, thereby confusing and convoluting the narratives in such a way that there are three to five characters in an ongoing polylogue, which revolves around belief and disbelief, trust and betrayal.
The video Matsogo shows a pair of hands crumbling a piece of cake and reforming it into the same wedge shape that references the original slice. Through the process of moving from deconstruction to reconstruction, the essence and consumability of the slice of cake is undermined and lost, as it is recreated into an object, that resembles and has the same elements, as the cake, but has lost its function. The soundtrack combines songs from two different popular Setswana folktales. The songs are mixed together, thereby confusing and convoluting the narratives in such a way that there are three to five characters in an ongoing polylogue, which revolves around belief and disbelief, trust and betrayal.
Lerato Shadi’s work challenges common assumptions to critique Western notions of history and make visible that which is invisible or overlooked. Working across video, performance and installation, and often employing repetitive processes, she argues the importance of centering - not just including - the marginalised body as a main figure of narrative experience. By placing herself at the forefront of her work, Shadi deals with the politics of cultural erasure and structural exclusion. She states: “It serves to challenge myself, and hopefully my audience as well, in how I/we are complicit in the violence of historical erasure by not fighting for a more inclusive and accurate historical narrative. I realised that – by just blindly or lazily accepting an inaccurate history – I would be sanctioning the problematic dominant narrative with my own inactivity.”
Shadi graduated from the University of Johannesburg in 2006 and in 2018 earned a M.A. in Spatial Strategies from the Weißensee Academy of Art in Berlin. She has had several solo exhibitions locally and internationally including, most recently, at Britta Rettberg Gallery in Munich and Galerie im Turm in Berlin. Her work has been included on numerous institutional exhibitions, including at the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn, A4 Arts Foundation in Cape Town, Kunstmuseum Celle, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Kunsthalle Münster, Museum of Fine Art, Chur, Switzerland, Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.), Daimler Contemporary, ifa-Galerie and SAVVY Contemporary in Berlin; Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town; Kunsthal Amersfoort in the Netherlands; and the Tate Modern in London. She has also exhibited at the Curitiba Biennial in Brazil, the Moscow International Biennale for Young Art, and DAK’ART Dakar Biennale.
She was awarded the Alumni Dignitas Award of the University of Johannesburg in 2016, the Villa Romana Prize in 2018, and the Berliner Senat Arbeitsstipendium in 2019. Her work is represented in the collections of the Tate Modern, n.b.k Videoforum, and IZIKO South African National Gallery, among others.
—
curriculum vitae
Born in Mahikeng, South Africa
Lives and works in Berlin, Germany
education
2018 M.A. (Spatial Strategies), Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee, Germany
2006 BFA, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
solo exhibitions
2023 Tsela di matlapa, Britta Rettberg Gallery, Munich, Germany
2022 Di Sa Bonweng, blank projects, Cape Town
2022 Maropeng, Galerie im Turm, Berlin, Germany
2020 Maru a Pula Is a Song of Happiness, KINDL Centre for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany
2020 Batho ba me, Kunstverein in Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
2019 Lefa Le, SACI Gallery, Florence, Italy
2016 Di Dikadika Tsa Dinaledi, GoetheOnMain, Johannesburg, Germany
2016 Noka Ya Bokamoso, South African National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, South Africa
2015 Seriti Se, POW, Galerie Wedding, Berlin, Germany
2014 Leleme, dance performance in ‘On Fire’ (choreographical collaboration Miki Shoji), Dorkypark, Berlin, Germany
2014 Makhubu, Institute of International Visual Arts (Iniva), London, UK
2012 Seipone, alpha nova (galerie futura), Berlin, Germany
2011 50 G and Tlhogo, Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2010 Selogilwe, Brodie/Stevenson, Johannesburg, South Africa
2010 Mosako Wa Seipone, GoetheOnMain, Johannesburg, South Africa
2007 Project Room#7, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2007 Aboleleng and Hema, Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
selected group exhibitions
2024 Für alle! Demokratie neu gestalten, Bundeskunsthalle
Bonn, Bonn, Germany [upcoming]
2024 Njabala: A Elegy, Makerere Art Gallery, Kampala, Uganda
2024 Notes On The Wake. Rhapsody and Lamentations in Three Acts, Villa Romana, Florence, Italy
2023 It's Human Nature?, Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof, Hamburg, Germany
2023 It Go Have To Adjust, SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin, Germany
2023 FLOAT, Kunstmuseum Celle, Celle, Germany
2023 Who We Are: Reflecting a Country of Immigration, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn, Germany
2023 Common, A4 Arts Foundation, Cape Town, South Africa
2023 lO, blank projects, Cape Town, South Africa
2023 FLOAT, Kunstmuseum Celle, Celle, Germany
2022 Empowerment, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany
2022 Polyphone. Polyphonies visuelles et sonores, Musée d’art et d’histoire Paul Eluard de Saint-Denis, Paris, France
2021 Nimmersatt? Imagining Society without Growth, Kunsthalle Münster, Germany
2021 Beyond Homogeneity, Syker Vorwerk (Center for Contemporary Art), Syke, Germany
2021 LACED: In Search of What Connects Us, New Art Exchange, Nottingham, UK
2021 LandLiebe. Kunst und Landwirtschaft, Museum of Fine Art, Chur, Switzerland
2021 Polyphon. Mehrstimmigkeit in Bild und To, The Gera Art Collection, Gera, Germany
2021 On Hannah Arendt: What is Authority, Richard Saltoun Gallery, London, UK
2021 European Media Art Festival, Kunsthalle Osnabrueck, Osnabrück, Germany
2021 What is forgotten and what remains?, Musée national de l’histoire de l’immigration, Paris, France
2021 The Power of My Hands, Le Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, Paris, France
2021 The thing itself exists everywhere, blank projects, Cape Town, South Africa
2020 31: Women, Daimler Contemporary, Berlin
2020 These Are the Only Times You Have Known, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin
2020 31: Women, Daimler Contemporary, Berlin, Germany
2019 Sound on the 4th Floor, Daimler Contemporary, Berlin, Germany
2019 the head the hand, blank projects, Cape Town South Africa
2019 Open Borders, 14th Curitiba Biennial, Museu Oscar Niemeyer, Curitiba, Brazil
2019 Merdelamerdelamer, curatedby… Kendell Geers, Mauroner Contemporary Art, Vienna, Austria
2019 Agropoetics, SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin, Germany
2019 Seeds for Future Memories, ifa Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2019 Sound on the 4th Floor, compiled and arranged by Gerwald Rockenschaub, Daimler Contemporary, Berlin, Germany
2019 Supplica per un’appendice, Kunstraum München, Munich, Germany
2018 The Main Complaint, Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town, South Africa
2018 Both, and, Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2018 She Devil Remix, Centro Pecci, Prato and Studio Stefania Miscetti, Rome, Italy
2018 blank, Galerie Guido W. Baudach, Berlin, Germany
2018 Tell Freedom. 15 South African artists, Kunsthal Amersfoort, Netherlands
2017 MINE—The Film Will Always Be You, LRG, Austria
2016 Undisciplinary Learning—Remapping The Aesthetics of Resistance, District, Berlin, Germany
2016 Being and Becoming: Complexities of the African Identity, Unisa Art Gallery, Pretoria, South Africa
2015 MINE—The Film Will Always Be You, Tate Modern, London, UK
2015 Sights & Sounds: South Africa, Jewish Museum, New York, USA
2014 Territorien, <rotor>, Steirischer Herbst, Graz, Austria
2014 Fast Forward, Zajia Lab, Beijing, China
2014 Giving Contours to Shadows, n.b.k., Berlin, Germany
2013 A Sculptural Premise, Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2013 Próximo Futuro, Next Future, Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal
2012 III Moscow International Biennale for Young Art, Moscow, Russia
2012 DAK’ART 2012, Dakar Biennale, Dakar, Senegal
2012 Theatre of life, Center of Contemporary Art, Torun, Poland
2011 Beyond football—shifting interests and identity, SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin and Goethe Institut, Lagos, Nigeria
2011 (Re)constructions: Contemporary Art in South Africa, Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2011 Alterating Conditions: Performance Art in South Africa, GoetheOnMain and Bag Factory, Johannesburg, South Africa
2010 Hinter offenen Türen, Stadtgalerie im PROGR, Bern, Switzerland
2011 Ampersand, Daimler Contemporary, Art Collection, Berlin, Germany
2009 Innovative Woman, Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, South Africa
2009 Self/Not self, Brodie/Stevenson, Johannesburg, South Africa
2009 Tlhogo ya Tsie, World Summit on Arts and Culture, Museum Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa
2009 Ke Tlhogo, House of Legacy, Belgrade, Serbia
2008 Real Presence, Castello di Rivoli, Turin, Italy
2008 Reflect Refuel, Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria, South Africa
residencies + awards
2019 Recipient of the Berliner Senat Arbeitsstipendium, Berlin, Germany
2018 Seeds for Future Memories residency, Thread, Tambacounda, Senegal
2018 Villa Romana Prize, fellow and residency program, Florence, Italy
2017 AFRICA’SOUT! residency program, New York, USA
2016 Alumni Dignitas Award of the University of Johannesburg, South Africa
2014 mart stam studio grant, Berlin, Germany
2013 Fellow of Sommerakademie, Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, Switzerland
2013 Hospitalfield residency by invitation of Iniva, London, UK
2009 – 2011 Bag Factory Artist Studios, Johannesburg, South Africa
2010 Pro Helvetia residency program, Stadtgalerie, PROGR, Bern, Switzerland
2010 Infecting the City, residency program, Cape Town, South Africa
public and institutional collections
Iziko, South African National Gallery, Cape Town
Daimler Art Collection, Berlin
n.b.k. Videoforum, Berlin
Tate Modern, London
UNISA Art Gallery, Pretoria
William Humphreys Art Gallery, Kimberley
— publications
2024 Higham-Stainton, R. Lerato Shadi in Vitamin Txt: Words in Contemporary Art. Phaidon Press, UK.
2022 Peper, T (ed). Lerato Shadi. Archive Books, Berlin. Published July 2022.
2021 Underwood, J. L. & Okeke-Agulu, C et al. African Artists: From 1882 to Now. Phaidon Press, UK. Published 17 November 2021.
2020 Nadine Isabelle Henrich, Hybrid Forms, Transculturality and New Imagery Post-colonial-feminist Positions in: exhibition catalogue ‘31: Women‘ Exhibition Concept after Marcel Duchamps, Daimler Art Collection, pp. 36–43.
2019 Angelika Stepken ‘I am / ich bin’ in: Villa Romana Fellows 2018, Ed. Villa Romana e.V., Vice Versa Art Books, Berlin.
2018 Gentric, K. Makhubu, Seriti Se, Basupa Tsela Où nous en sommes selon Lerato Shadi (essay in French), in: Revue Proteus, no. 14, 2018, pp. 51–64.
2017 Gentric, K. Sugar & Salt, Like Licking Your Mother-Tongue, in: Desipientia Art History Journal, 1/2017, Radboud University, Nijmegen, pp. 26–30.
2016 Ed. Joan Legalamitlwa, Noka Ya Bokamoso, catalogue, Berlin and Grahamstown
https://bit.ly/noka-ya-bokamoso-catalogue
2014 Tessa Jackson, Lerato Shadi ‘Makhubu’, Performative Space—personal and public, Iniva Brochur, London: https://bit.ly/leratoshadi-iniva-brochur
— selected press
2023 Nugent, G. Soil, Land, and Abstraction in South African Contemporary Art. ASAP Journal [online] (published 25 September 2023).
2023 Upson, T. Various Others - Three Encounters. FAD Magazine [online] (published 14 September 2023).
2023 Shinners, K. Common. e-flux [online] (published 22 June 2023).
2022 Krynauw, M. Moments before meaning: A conversation with Lerato Shadi. Artthrob [online] (published 2 May 2022).
2022 Moloi, N. Critics' Picks: Lerato Shadi at blank projects. Artforum. [online] (published April 2022).
2021 Legalamitlwa, J. Lerato Shadi Q & A. Kurzfilmtage.de. [online] (published 9 December 2021).
2021 O’Toole, S. Open City Film: 8 films, 3 days. Mail & Guardian (published 22 October 2021).
2021 Jussef, A. Power for Whom? On Hannah Arendt’s ‘What is Authority’. Frieze [online] (published 24 May 2021).
2021 Donnellan, A. ‘Are We the People?: An Interview with Lerato Shadi’. Berlin Art Link [online] (published 13 April 2021).
2021 Nkomo, V. History is happening: ‘The thing itself exists everywhere’ at blank projects. Artthrob [online] (published 23 March 2021).
2021 Sosibo. K. Lerato Shadi: The body, the land and the toll of unsung labour, Mail & Guardian Friday (published 27 February 2021).
2020 Sze, W et al. ‘Lerato Shadi: Mabogo Dinku’. Contemporary And [online] (published 26 June 2020).
2020 Pofalla, B. Body, language, identity: Lerato Shadi takes a stance at the KINDL centre. In monopol, pp 32 - 36.
2020 Pofalla. B. Lerato Shadi in Berlin: A question of attitude, Monopol [online] (published 29 September 2020).
2020 Carrington, S. Lerato Shadi: MOSI KE O NE …, Thisistomorrow Contemporary Art Magazine [online] (published 2 May 2020).
2020 Ruthe, I. Der Senat als Mäzen. Berliner Zeitung, [online](published 10 March 10 2020).
2019 Bambalele, P. Lerato Shadi exhibits her work back home. The Sowetan [online](published 29 November 2019).
2018 Moloi, N. Both physical presence, and authenticity. Mail & Guardian [online](published 13 July 2018)
2017 Crossroads-interview, Mats Staub and Ana López Escudero, Berlin, [online](published 7 November 2017)
2017 Ex Nunc, Interview with Lerato Shadi, Doppiozero: https://www.doppiozero.com/materiali/why-africa/interview-lerato-shadi
2016 Sosibo, K. A history of violence – Lerato Shadi’s work asks: Are we really a ‘post’ colony? Mail & Guardian [online](published 14 September 2016).
2016 Western, R. ‘The Value of Labour:’ The Grahamstown National Arts Festival. ART AFRICA magazine, edition ‘Beyond Fair‘ (published September 2016).
2016 Makgato, K.C. ‘Noka Ya Bokamoso’: Lerato Shadi at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival. ART AFRICA magazine [online].
2016 The physical act of creation, Lerato Shadi, TEDxJohannesburgSalon: https://youtu.be/NzBL-exXUFI
2016 Neelika Jayawardane, M. Lerato Shadi in conversation with M. Neelika Jayawardane @ National Arts Festival 2016, Grahamstown: The Beautiful Ones Will Not Be Erased: https://vimeo.com/leratoshadi/naf16
2014 Poyurs, R. Lerato Shadi’s ‘Makhuba’ – transcending history through performance. The South African [online](published 12 December 2014).
2014 Gordan, H.M. Lerato Shadi In Conversation with Hansi Momodu Gordon, [online](published 12 December 2014) Iniva https://youtu.be/Z0pk6vfflIE
2024 Higham-Stainton, R. Lerato Shadi in Vitamin Txt: Words in Contemporary Art. Phaidon Press, UK.
2022 Peper, T (ed). Lerato Shadi. Archive Books, Berlin. Published July 2022.
2021 Underwood, J. L. & Okeke-Agulu, C et al. African Artists: From 1882 to Now. Phaidon Press, UK. Published 17 November 2021.
2020 Nadine Isabelle Henrich, Hybrid Forms, Transculturality and New Imagery Post-colonial-feminist Positions in: exhibition catalogue ‘31: Women‘ Exhibition Concept after Marcel Duchamps, Daimler Art Collection, pp. 36–43.
2019 Angelika Stepken ‘I am / ich bin’ in: Villa Romana Fellows 2018, Ed. Villa Romana e.V., Vice Versa Art Books, Berlin.
2018 Gentric, K. Makhubu, Seriti Se, Basupa Tsela Où nous en sommes selon Lerato Shadi (essay in French), in: Revue Proteus, no. 14, 2018, pp. 51–64.
2017 Gentric, K. Sugar & Salt, Like Licking Your Mother-Tongue, in: Desipientia Art History Journal, 1/2017, Radboud University, Nijmegen, pp. 26–30.
2016 Ed. Joan Legalamitlwa, Noka Ya Bokamoso, catalogue, Berlin and Grahamstown
https://bit.ly/noka-ya-bokamoso-catalogue
2014 Tessa Jackson, Lerato Shadi ‘Makhubu’, Performative Space—personal and public, Iniva Brochur, London: https://bit.ly/leratoshadi-iniva-brochur
— selected press
2023 Nugent, G. Soil, Land, and Abstraction in South African Contemporary Art. ASAP Journal [online] (published 25 September 2023).
2023 Upson, T. Various Others - Three Encounters. FAD Magazine [online] (published 14 September 2023).
2023 Shinners, K. Common. e-flux [online] (published 22 June 2023).
2022 Krynauw, M. Moments before meaning: A conversation with Lerato Shadi. Artthrob [online] (published 2 May 2022).
2022 Moloi, N. Critics' Picks: Lerato Shadi at blank projects. Artforum. [online] (published April 2022).
2021 Legalamitlwa, J. Lerato Shadi Q & A. Kurzfilmtage.de. [online] (published 9 December 2021).
2021 O’Toole, S. Open City Film: 8 films, 3 days. Mail & Guardian (published 22 October 2021).
2021 Jussef, A. Power for Whom? On Hannah Arendt’s ‘What is Authority’. Frieze [online] (published 24 May 2021).
2021 Donnellan, A. ‘Are We the People?: An Interview with Lerato Shadi’. Berlin Art Link [online] (published 13 April 2021).
2021 Nkomo, V. History is happening: ‘The thing itself exists everywhere’ at blank projects. Artthrob [online] (published 23 March 2021).
2021 Sosibo. K. Lerato Shadi: The body, the land and the toll of unsung labour, Mail & Guardian Friday (published 27 February 2021).
2020 Sze, W et al. ‘Lerato Shadi: Mabogo Dinku’. Contemporary And [online] (published 26 June 2020).
2020 Pofalla, B. Body, language, identity: Lerato Shadi takes a stance at the KINDL centre. In monopol, pp 32 - 36.
2020 Pofalla. B. Lerato Shadi in Berlin: A question of attitude, Monopol [online] (published 29 September 2020).
2020 Carrington, S. Lerato Shadi: MOSI KE O NE …, Thisistomorrow Contemporary Art Magazine [online] (published 2 May 2020).
2020 Ruthe, I. Der Senat als Mäzen. Berliner Zeitung, [online](published 10 March 10 2020).
2019 Bambalele, P. Lerato Shadi exhibits her work back home. The Sowetan [online](published 29 November 2019).
2018 Moloi, N. Both physical presence, and authenticity. Mail & Guardian [online](published 13 July 2018)
2017 Crossroads-interview, Mats Staub and Ana López Escudero, Berlin, [online](published 7 November 2017)
2017 Ex Nunc, Interview with Lerato Shadi, Doppiozero: https://www.doppiozero.com/materiali/why-africa/interview-lerato-shadi
2016 Sosibo, K. A history of violence – Lerato Shadi’s work asks: Are we really a ‘post’ colony? Mail & Guardian [online](published 14 September 2016).
2016 Western, R. ‘The Value of Labour:’ The Grahamstown National Arts Festival. ART AFRICA magazine, edition ‘Beyond Fair‘ (published September 2016).
2016 Makgato, K.C. ‘Noka Ya Bokamoso’: Lerato Shadi at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival. ART AFRICA magazine [online].
2016 The physical act of creation, Lerato Shadi, TEDxJohannesburgSalon: https://youtu.be/NzBL-exXUFI
2016 Neelika Jayawardane, M. Lerato Shadi in conversation with M. Neelika Jayawardane @ National Arts Festival 2016, Grahamstown: The Beautiful Ones Will Not Be Erased: https://vimeo.com/leratoshadi/naf16
2014 Poyurs, R. Lerato Shadi’s ‘Makhuba’ – transcending history through performance. The South African [online](published 12 December 2014).
2014 Gordan, H.M. Lerato Shadi In Conversation with Hansi Momodu Gordon, [online](published 12 December 2014) Iniva https://youtu.be/Z0pk6vfflIE
blank is pleased to present Di Sa Bonweng, a solo exhibition by Lerato Shadi. The exhibition includes a selection of works ranging from installation to performance and video. Di Sa Bonweng can be interpreted as 'the unseen', and in the context of Shadi's practice, the title opens up a multitude of potential meanings related to that which is invisible; those things that we cannot (or choose not to) see, either due to our intellectual biases or because they have been excluded from systems of knowledge production. Often comprised of Setswana words or phrases, her titles deliberately deny ready translation. For Shadi, they are both an assertion of her identity and a refusal to be 'understood' by the audience.
In I know what a closed fist means (2020), the artist interrogates universal assumptions by emphasising multivalent, subjective readings of her work. Four large-scale, floor to ceiling photographs depict raised fists with the position of the thumb in each image having a variety of associated meanings that differ depending on the viewer's own cultural background. The work's title is paradoxical in that it contradicts the endless possibility for interpretation of the individually raised fists - Shadi makes it clear that knowledge and experience are always connected to one's own perspective and cannot be easily generalised.
Shadi speaks of Mosako wa Nako as a red river. It is the product of 60 hours of labour, which Shadi carries out publicly over the course of 10 days. The 10-metre knitted object is rendered as a representation of silent narratives and acts as an architectural feature that divides the space. As M. Neelika Jayawardane states, "in highlighting work that is usually associated with feminised-and therefore often inconspicuous and devalued labour, Shadi focuses our attention to the meditative quality of her actions. Bringing the experience of meditation into her labour allows her to be present in her body and in the present moment-to-moment of labour, and for us, as her audience, to be similarly mindful in the space".1
For Shadi, the colour red has significance "in regard to its connection to corporeality and to violence." In her recent works, Series (2020), red knitted squares are sewn onto raw linen and mounted on canvas stretcher frames, referring to the tradition of panel painting, the history of which has been dominated by white male artists for centuries. Shadi's process involves preparing herself physically and mentally for the production of her work, in a kind of private, durational performance. She states, "my entire practice is a durational practice. The idea of durational works, the ideas of labour, the values of labour are also always present in my work."
Challenging common assumptions to critique Western notions of history, Shadi's work makes visible that which is invisible or overlooked. Often employing repetitive processes in her performances and video works, she argues the importance of centering - not just including - the marginalised body as a main figure of narrative experience. By placing herself at the forefront of her work, Shadi deals with the politics of cultural erasure and structural exclusion. According to Shadi, "it serves to challenge myself, and hopefully my audience as well, in how I/we are complicit in the violence of historical erasure by not fighting for a more inclusive and accurate historical narrative. I realised that - by just blindly or lazily accepting an inaccurate history - I would be sanctioning the problematic dominant narrative with my own inactivity."
1 The Beautiful Ones Will Not Be Erased, M. Neelika Jayawardane in conversation with Lerato Shadi, Albany History Museum, Makhanda (2016)
Born in Mahikeng, South Africa, Shadi lives and works in Berlin, Germany. Her work has been included on numerous institutional exhibitions, including at the Kunsthalle Münster; Museum of Fine Art, Chur, Switzerland; Musee d'Art Moderne de Paris; Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.), Berlin; Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town; Kunsthal Amersfoort, Netherlands; and the Tate Modern, London. She has also exhibited at the Curitiba Biennial in Brazil and DAK'ART Dakar Biennale. In 2020, Shadi had solo exhibitions at the Kunstverein in Hamburg and KINDL Centre for Contemporary Art in Berlin. She was awarded the Alumni Dignitas Award of the University of Johannesburg in 2016, the Villa Romana Prize in 2018, and the Berliner Senat Arbeitsstipendium in 2019. Her work is represented in the collections of the Tate Modern, n.b.k Videoforum, and Iziko South African National Gallery, among others. In April 2022 her first monograph will be published with Archive Books, Berlin-Dakar-Milano.
Di Sa Bonweng is Shadi's first exhibition in South Africa in over five years, and in Cape Town in over a decade.
Exhibition press:
Krynauw, M. Moments before meaning: A conversation with Lerato Shadi. Artthrob [online] (published 2 May)
