Oupa Sibeko

Born in 1992.

Oupa Sibeko is an interdisciplinary artist whose work moves between theatrical, gallery, scholarly and other public contexts, dealing overtly with matter and politics of the body as a site of contested works.

Enabling opportunities for affective and relational encounters using ritualistic performance and play, he seeks to critically engage approaches to the body, particularly the black male body, the history of representation and the ways in which certain subjectivities have been (and are) figured, namely (black) pain, (black) spectacle, (black) negation, and the ethical implications of reimaging and re-enacting pain.

In 2019, Sibeko appeared in the Mail & Guardian List of 200 Young South Africans in the category Arts & Entertainment and won the David Koloane Award.

In 2021, Sibeko graduated with a MFA from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg/South Africa, whilst performing in various exhibitions both locally and abroad. He first performed Black is Blue at the University of Witwatersrand in 2019, and later at Nel Art Gallery, Cape Town/South Africa as well as at La Friche, Marseille/France and the National Arts Festival, Makhanda/South Africa in 2021.

He was further featured in group and solo shows at the National Art Gallery of Namibia; Wits TPO Gallery and Wits Art Museum (University of the Witwatersrand); Room Gallery, Johannesburg; Melville Art Project; Greatmore Studios, Cape Town; The Freezer Hostel and Theatre, Iceland and The Art Room Parkhust, Johannesburg.

In early 2022, Sibeko joined Berman Contemporary gallery in Johannesburg as an associated artist.