Lerato Shadi

Lerato Shadi
Born
Lerato Mmathapelo Thato Shadi

1979 (age 46–47)
Mahikeng, South Africa
EducationUniversity of Johannesburg
Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin (MA)
OccupationContemporary visual artist
Years active2007 – present
Known forPerformance art, text-based art installation
Notable workMosako wa Nako (loosely translates to a 'River of Time,' performance art)[1]
AwardsUJ Alumni Dignitas Award (2016),
Villa Romana Prize (2018)
Websiteleratoshadi.art

Lerato Mmathapelo Thato Shadi (born 1979) is a South African-born visual artist, known for performance art and installation art. Her practice centres on the body in space, often using her own body to examine how knowledge systems and social structures shape identity and belonging. Working across performance, installation, video, drawing, and text, she uses time, labour, language, land, and the body as both material and subject.[2][3] Her work often employs repetitive, process-based methods—including weaving, crochet and knitting, text, and moving image—to explore relationships between bodies and land, engaging themes such as land dispossession, institutional power, historical erasure, ancestry, and self-determination.[4] She lives in Berlin.

Early life and education

Lerato Shadi was born in 1979, in Mahikeng, South Africa.[5] Shadi studied visual art at the University of Johannesburg, and earned a MA degree in 2018 in spatial strategies from Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin.[6]

Career

Her work has been shown internationally in various exhibitions, including Sesc Pompeia, São Paulo (2025);[7] Zeitz MOCAA (2025–2026)[8] and the Norval Foundation, Cape Town (2024–2025); Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn (2023–2024);[9][10] Bienalsur, Buenos Aires (2023); and Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg (2022).[11] Further presentations included the Palais de la Porte Dorée and the Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris (2021);[12][13] the 14th Curitiba Biennial, Brazil (2019); and solo shows at blank projects (2023, 2025), KINDL – Centre for Contemporary Art, Berlin,[14] and the Kunstverein in Hamburg (2020).[15] Shadi’s video work, Mabogo Dinku, was part of the 2020 Artists’ Film International programme organized by Whitechapel Gallery, London, and screened at art institutions globally. During the 2025 Black Berlin Black – Festivity, Shadi premiered her first holistic performance project at Ballhaus Naunynstraße, Berlin.[16] In 2022, her monograph was published by Archive Books (Berlin-Dakar-Milano).[17]

Style

Shadi’s work has been described as a critique of Western historiography, with an emphasis on centring marginalised bodies within narrative structures rather than treating them as peripheral.[18] By placing herself at the forefront of her work, she addresses cultural erasure and structural exclusion, and examines how meaning is produced and maintained. A recurring concern is the labour of historical memory—who is expected to remember, explain, or be understood, and who is permitted to forget.[19] This approach frames the interrogation of history as an ethical demand on both the artist and the audience. Shadi posits that the passive acceptance of inaccurate histories constitutes a form of complicity, asserting that the insistence on more comprehensive narratives is a necessary act.[20]

Awards

She received the UJ Alumni Dignitas Award of the University of Johannesburg in 2016,[21] and was awarded with the AFRICA’SOUT! residency program (New York) in 2017.[22] She was a recipient of the 2018 Villa Romana Prize, Florence, Italy.[23]

References

  1. ^ "Mosako wa Nako, Lerato Shadi". Art At A Time Like This. 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  2. ^ Becker, Natasha (2022). "Lerato Shadi's Emancipatory Practice". Monograph. Archive Books. pp. 87–92. ISBN 978-3-948212-74-2.
  3. ^ Rose Higham-Stainton (2024). Words In Contemporary Art. Phaidon Press Inc. p. 208-209. ISBN 978-1-83866-546-3.
  4. ^ Nkomo, Vusumzi (2025). "What's a [Black] body got to do with it?: Brief notes on Lerato Shadi". blank projects. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  5. ^ African Artists: From 1882 to Now. Phaidon Press Inc. 2021. p. 289. ISBN 978-1-83866-243-1.
  6. ^ "HKW, contributors". HKW, Berlin. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  7. ^ "O Poder de Minhas Mãos (exposição)". Sesc São Paulo. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  8. ^ "A Protea Is Not a Flower (exhibition)". Zeitz MOCAA, Cape town. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  9. ^ "Who We Are (exhibition)". Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  10. ^ "FÜR ALLE! (exhibition)". Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  11. ^ "Empowerment (exhibition)". Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  12. ^ "Ce qui s'oublie et ce qui reste (exhibition)". Palais de la Porte Dorée, Paris. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  13. ^ "The Power of My Hands. Africa(s): Women Artists (exhibition)". Muée d’Art Moderne, Paris. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  14. ^ "Maru a Pula Is a Song of Happiness (solo show)". Gallery Weekend, KINDL, Berlin. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  15. ^ "Batho ba Me (solo show)". Kunstverein in Hamburg. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  16. ^ "Unfolding the Sky (theater performance)". Ballhaus Naunynstraße, Berlin. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  17. ^ "Monograph, Lerato Shadi". Archive Books; Berlin, Dakar, Milano. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  18. ^ Donnellan, Aoife (13 April 2021). "Are We the People?: An Interview with Lerato Shadi". Berlin Art Link. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  19. ^ Malatjie, Portia (2022). "Black's Women's Work and the Laborious Acts of Lerato Shadi". Monograph. Archive Books. pp. 41–48. ISBN 978-3-948212-74-2.
  20. ^ Nunc, Ex (28 July 2017). "Under a different sun / Interview with Lerato Shadi". Doppiozero. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  21. ^ Tshifura, Lutendo (24 November 2016). "UJ honours iconic figures with 2016 Alumni Dignitas and Ellen Kuzwayo Council Award - University of Johannesburg News". University of Johannesburg.
  22. ^ "Denniston Hill". AFRICA'SOUT!.
  23. ^ "Villa Romana, Fellows". Villa Romana. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
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