VIAD invites you to The Body as Method

by Yola Balanga

22 April 2026

Venue: Visual Arts Printing Studio

Time: 13:00pm – 14:00pm

Performance, memory and artistic research are the focus of Angolan artist Yola Blanga’s discussion in this seminar. She takes us through the different ways that the body acts as a method in her practice of memory-performances in live performance, video works and textiles.

Biography

Yola Balanga (Luanda, 1994) is a multidisciplinary artist working across performance, installation, photography, painting, and writing. She holds a degree in Visual Arts from the University of Luanda and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Artistic Research and Creation at the Complutense University of Madrid.

Her practice is rooted in the body as a site of enunciation, exploring themes of memory, territory, spirituality, and the experience of the female body within contemporary African contexts. Performance is central to her work, functioning as a space to articulate narrative, presence, and resistance.

In 2022, she was awarded the Prince Claus Seed Award. Her work has been presented in various international contexts, including a recent presentation at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid.