Following the opening of the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia ‘In Minor Keys’ by Koyo Kouoh, we would like to once again, express our sincerest congratulations to Senzeni Marasela for producing a monumental, and equally impactful, body of work.
The 61st edition of the Biennale Arte is grounded in a deep belief in artists as the vital interpreters of the social and psychic condition and catalysts of new relations and possibilities. Marasela’s work focuses on the lived experiences of Black South African women, drawing on both historical and personal narratives and often expressed through material culture such as fabric and clothing. In Marasela’s hands, these textiles works, predominantly using the colour red, became a vivid marker of histories often misrepresented, silenced, or erased. Employing materials such as Ishweshwe cloth and Kaffir lime fabric, as well as techniques like photomontage, she creates fictionalised yet resonant stories of this period, reimagining daily life with both intimacy and historical weight.
For their inclusion in, 'In Minor Keys', Marasela presents an installation of seven large-scale suspended textile works that features cascading lengths of red wool hand-stitched onto tjali, mixed fabric ceremonial blankets.
The stitch patterns trace maps of mine slopes that have collapsed, and the titles refer to notorious mining disasters in South Africa, with their location, date and human toll.
Finally, we would like to express our congratulations and thanks to the ‘In Minor Keys’ curatorial team for the successful opening of this year’s edition of the La Biennale di Venezia.
The 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, 'In Minor Keys' by Koyo Kouoh, will run from Saturday 9 May to Sunday 22 November 2026 at the Arsenale, the Giardini and in various locations around Venice.
