EBONY/CURATED is thrilled to announce that Senzeni Marasela has been invited to participate in the 61st International Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia titled ‘In Minor Keys’, curated by Koyo Kouoh. The exhibition will run from 9th May - 26th November in Venice, Italy.
Senzeni Marasela is a cross-disciplinary artist whose practice spans photography printmaking, performance, and mixed-media installations incorporating textiles and embroidery. Her 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. A central motif in her practice is the colour red, which she connects to the "red dust" period in South African history, a time of drought, displacement, and social upheaval.
Marasela is especially known for her long-duration performances, most notably ‘Ijermani Lam’ (2013–2019), a six-year work in which she wore the same red dress every day, embodying the condition of waiting. She frequently channels both personal and collective histories through figures such as her fictional alter ego, "Theodorah Mthetyane", whose story reflects the experiences of countless women waiting for absent husbands.
Her use of red traces intergenerational experiences of womanhood, beginning with her grandmother’s era and extending to broader narratives of Black South African life. The “red dust” evokes drought-stricken rural landscapes, the movements of men conscripted into war or drawn to Johannesburg’s mines, and the scarred terrain of the city’s mine dumps – enduring evidence of their labour.
In Marasela’s hands, red becomes 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.
Marasela graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand in 1998 and shortly thereafter completed a residency at the South African National Gallery, culminating in her inclusion in its ‘Fresh’ exhibition series. Since then, her work has been exhibited widely across South Africa, Europe, and the United States and features in major institutional and private collections including; the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, the Smithsonian (Washington), the Newark Museum (New Jersey) and the Iziko South African National galleries (Cape Town) amongst others. She was also included in the Johannesburg Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale (2015) and held a major solo exhibition titled ‘Waiting for Gebane’ at Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town in 2020/21.
