(b. 1982, Barberton, South Africa)

Mary Sibande currently lives and works in Johannesburg. She obtained an Honours degree from the University of Johannesburg in 2007, following a Diploma in Fine Arts from the Witwatersrand Technical College, South Africa, in 2005. Sibande’s work engages counter-historical narratives and the language of dress to animate the stories of South African women and critique western imperialist depictions of their lives. Drawing heavily from fashion design, she uses colour symbolism and coded motifs to construct her characters' identities. Working primarily in large-scale installation and photography, Sibande introduces viewers to her alter ego, Sophie, whose evolving form pays tribute to the lives of her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother under apartheid. Though Sophie's attire references domestic servitude, Sibande reimagines her in a richly symbolic, dreamlike realm of empowerment and transformation.

Notable honours and awards include the title of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, bestowed by the French Ministry of Culture in 2023 in recognition of Sibande’s outstanding contributions to the arts. This prestigious honour stands alongside other significant accolades such as the Helgaard Steyn Prize for Sculpture in 2021, the 2017 Smithsonian National Museum of African Arts Award, the University of Johannesburg Alumni Dignitas Award in 2014, and the 2013 Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Visual Arts. Sibande has also participated in numerous residencies and fellowships, including the 2018–2019 Virginia C. Gildersleeve Professorship at Barnard College, Columbia University in New York; the 2013 STAMPS School of Art & Design Fellowship at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; a residency at MAC/VAL Musée d’Art Contemporain du Val-de-Marne in Paris; the 2011 Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship in Washington, D.C.; the 2009 Ampersand Foundation Fellowship in New York; and the 2006 Cité internationale des arts Residency in Paris.

Sibande’s recent exhibitions include The Red Ventriloquist at the Musée d’art Contemporain de Lyon, France, and a solo at SMAC Gallery, Cape Town, both in 2022. In 2023, she presented Blue Red Purple, a major solo exhibition at the Frist Art Museum in Nashville, Tennessee. Her first UK solo exhibition, I Came Apart at the Seams, was held at Somerset House, London in 2019 in collaboration with 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair. Other solo presentations include exhibitions at the Leroy Neiman Gallery at Columbia University in New York (2019), the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and the travelling exhibition The Purple Shall Govern (2013–2014), shown at venues in South Africa and the Musée Léon Dierx in Réunion. Her work has also featured in major group exhibitions such as Radical Revisionists: Contemporary African Artists Confronting Past and Present at the Moody Center for the Arts, Rice University, Houston (2020); the 14th Curitiba Biennale in Brazil; the 2019 Havana Biennale in Cuba; Made Visible: Contemporary South African Fashion and Identity at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the N’GOLA Festival in São Tomé and Príncipe; and The Ampersand Foundation Award: 21 Years Celebration Exhibition at the University of Johannesburg Art Gallery.

Since her first solo exhibition My Madam’s Things at Gordart Gallery, Johannesburg in 2006, Sibande has presented numerous solo and public exhibitions, including the large-scale public installation Jo’burg City: World Premiere Exhibition of Billboards across 19 buildings in Johannesburg (2010); Right Now! at the Stellenbosch University Museum (2016); and Crescendo of Ecstasy at TMRW Gallery, Johannesburg (2018). Her work was featured in the South African Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011 as part of Desire: Narratives in Contemporary South African Art, and in landmark exhibitions such as From Pierneef to Gugulective: 1910–2010 at the Iziko South African National Gallery (2010) and L’Exposition du Festival Mondial des Arts Nègres in Dakar, Senegal (2010). She has also shown with Bloom Galerie at West Bund Art & Design, Shanghai, and with Baverman Gallery at Paris Photo (both 2021). Sibande’s work is held in several major public and private collections, including the Pérez Art Museum Miami; Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C.; Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town; Spencer Museum of Art, Kansas; Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago; The Indianapolis MAC/VAL, Paris; Toledo Museum of Art; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond; and Fonds Régionaux d’Art Contemporain, Marseille.

 

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2023      The Armory Show, with SMAC Gallery, Javits Center, New York, USA.        

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, 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, with 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 with 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, with 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, 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, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.

 

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2025      ENGAGÉES, Fondation Villa Datris, L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, France.

              Narratives in Focus, Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), Miami, USA

              Art et Vêtement: s’habiller en artiste, Louvre-Lens Museum, Lens, France.

              Bold Women, Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, USA.

              Kings and Queens of Africa. Forms and Figures of Power. Louvre Museum Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE             

2024      Africa Supernova, Kunsthal KAdE, in Amersfoort, Netherlands.

              Death and the Devil: The Fascination with the Gruesome, Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, Germany.

              Cooking Cleaning Caring, Josef Albers Museum, Bottrop, Germany.

              Strategic Interplay: African Art and Imagery in Black and White, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, USA.

              MEMORIA: RÉCITS D’UNE AUTRE HISTOIRE, Fondation H, Antananarivo, Madagascar.           

2023      Mother/Daughter/Mother/Ancestor:Threads of Connection, Indiana Museum of Art, Newfields, USA

              FNB Art Joburg, with SMAC Gallery, Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa.

              Textile Biennial, Museum Rijswijk, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

              True Stories, MAC VAL - Val-de-Marne Contemporary Art Museum, Vitry-sur-Seine, France.

              RMB Latitudes Art Fair, with SMAC Gallery, Shepstone Gardens, Johannesburg, South Africa.

              Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), Cape Town, South Africa.

              Sharjah Biennial 15, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

              Back in Town, SMAC Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.

              Insistent Presence, Chazen Museum of Art, Wisconsin, USA.

2022–2023      A Gateway To Possible Worlds, Centre Pompidou-Metz, Metz, France.         

2022      FNB Art Joburg, with 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.

              Naughty Aughties, SMAC Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.

              Art Brussels, with 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.

              Garmenting: Costume as Contemporary Art, Museum of Arts and Design, New York, USA

              Mary Sibande & Dorothy Kay, Strauss & Co, Johannesburg, South Africa.          

2021      Art Basel Miami Beach, with Kavi Gupta Gallery, Miami Beach, USA.

              West Bund Art & Design Fair, with Bloom Galerie, West Bund Dome, Shanghai, China.

              Paris Photo Fair, with 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, with 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      Breda Photo, Breda, Netherlands.

Investec Cape Town Art Fair, with 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, with Kavi Gupta Gallery, Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Los Angeles, USA.

              Art Basel Miami, with Kavi Gupta Gallery, Miami Beach, Miami, USA.

              arteBOTANICA, Nirox Sculpture Park, Krugersdorp, South Africa.

              Frieze London, with Kavi Gupta, Regents Park, London, UK.

              1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, with 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 celebratory exhibition, University of Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG), South Africa.

              FNB Art Joburg, with 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, Textile Museum, Tilburg, Netherlands.

              Friends50, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.

              Extra/Ordinary, curated by Ceren & İlksen Arkman, Plugin New Media Section, Contemporary Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey.        

2017      South Africa: The Art of a Nation, The British Museum, London, UK.

              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, with 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.

Identity/Identity Avesta, Avesta Art, Sweden.

              Deep Memory, Kalmar Art Museum, Kalmar, Sweden.         

2016      Different Angels, Hohenwarth, Linz, Austria.

              Desire, Association of Arts Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.

              Re[as]sisting Narratives (Travelling Exhibition), Framer Framed, 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, with 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 exile, 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.

              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, 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, Liefde en De Grote Witte Reus Gallery, Hague, Netherlands.

              Say it loud, Norton Museum of Art, Palm Beach, 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, with the 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.

              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), Goodman 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.

 

AWARDS & RESIDENCIES

2024-2025     Artist-in-residence at Spencer Museum of Art, Kansas, USA             

2024    Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, Knighthood by the French Government.           

2023      Artist in residence at Spencer Museum of Art, Kansas, USA.           

2021    Helgaard Steyn Award For Sculpture, Cape Town, South Africa.    

2018–2019   Virginia C. Gildersleeve Professor at Barnard College, Columbia University, New York City, USA.            

2017    Smithsonian African Artist Award, Washington, D.C., USA.

              GLAMOUR Woman of the Year – Winner for Art Category, Johannesburg, South Africa.          

2014    Artist in Residence at Civitella Ranieri Foundation Fellowship, Civitella Ranieri Centre, Umbertide, Italy.

              Artist in Residence at Musée Léon Dierx, Saint-Denis, Reunion Island, France.           

2013    Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Visual Arts, Johannesburg, South Africa.

              Artist in residence at MAC/VAL Museum of Modern Art, France.

              Artist in residence at Ann Arbor Fellowship, STAMPS School of Art & Design, Ann Arbor, USA.            

2011    Artist in residence at Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship Program (SARF), Washington, D.C., USA.            

2010      Artist in residence at Kunst:raum Sylt Quelle, Sylt, Germany.

2009      Artist in residence at Ampersand Foundation Fellowship, New York City, USA.           

2008      Artist in residence at Prohelvetia-IAAB, Basel, Switzerland.           

2006    Artist in residence at Cité des Arts International, Paris, France.

 

COLLECTIONS

Indianapolis Museum of Art, Newfields, USA.

Iziko South Africa National Gallery, South Africa.

Pérez Art Museum, USA.

Fonds Régionaux d’art Contemporain (FRAC), France.

Bowman Gilfillan, South Africa.

Standard Bank, South Africa.

SASOL South Africa, South Africa.

TELKOM, South Africa.

Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG), South Africa.

Spencer Museum of Art, USA.

Everard Read Gallery, South Africa.

UNISA Art Gallery, South Africa.

Norton Museum of Art, USA.

National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, USA.

Frank and Lizelle Kilbourn Collection, South Africa.

Toledo Museum of Art, USA.

Scheryn Art Collection, South Africa.

University of the Free State, South Africa.

Fonds Régional d’art Contemporain (FRAC), Réunion.

MAC VAL, France.

Theo Danjuma Collection, England.

Barlow World, South Africa.

Virginia Museum of Fine Art, USA.

Chicago Museum of Photography, USA.

Chazen Museum of Art, USA.

Jorge Pérez Art Collection, USA.

The Metropolitan Museum Schulting Art Collection.

Chazen permanent collection.

University of Michigan Museum of Art, USA.