Nelisiwe Xaba

Nelisiwe Xaba is a world-renowned live art/performance artist and has been involved in various multi-media projects, collaborating with choreographers, fashion designers, poets and other creative practitioners.

As an emerging artist, Xaba received a scholarship to study at the Johannesburg Dance Foundation in the early 1990s, followed, in 1996, by a scholarship at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance in London (UK). Returning to South Africa in 1997, Xaba joined the Pact Dance Company and later launched a solo career, working with a variety of esteemed choreographers, including Robyn Orlin. Xaba’s work is informed largely by feminist and racial politics that challenge stereotypes of the black body and mainstream notions of gender. Xaba’s seminal works such as Plasticization and They Look at Me & That’s All They Think have toured internationally. Xaba has been invited to exhibit a major body of new work at MoMA, New York (USA) in 2025.

Xaba participated in VIAD’s curated exhibition SYM|BIO|ART INTRA-ACTING AT THE CRITICAL NODE BETWEEN BIOTECHNOLOGY AND CONTEMPORARY ART in 2023. In the performance, titled vROT, Xaba delves into the realms of live art, biology, science and philosophy. Seeing mould as a kind of flower, Xaba appreciates its gradual growth that requires a specific, conducive environment to flourish — ironically, much like the monstrous nature of corruption. In vROT, the performer uses mould as a material metaphor for the levels of corruption in South Africa, and the impact this has on socio-economic issues in the country.

Nelisiwe Xaba joined VIAD in 2023.