Usha Seejarim

Usha Seejarim was born in 1974 in Bethal, South Africa, and currently lives and works in Johannesburg, South Africa. Seejarim received a B-Tech Degree in Fine Art from the University of Johannesburg in 1999 and a Master’s Degree in Fine Art at the University of The Witwatersrand (WITS) in 2008, Johannesburg, South Africa. Seejarim is a conceptual artist and sculptor whose practice is based upon her interest in the representation of gender and women, and a fascination with the ordinary through domestic and found objects. She works in a variety of media, from photographic and video media and has also made assemblages finding form in both sculptures and images. Seejarim was the 2018 recipient of the prestigious Dak’Art Biennale Sculpture Prize in Dakar, Senegal; and winner of the Tomorrow’s/Today Prize for her installation, Keepers of the Common, at the 2018 Investec Cape Town Art Fair, in Cape Town, South Africa. Seejarim has completed numerous public commissions, amongst others, the public portrait for Nelson Mandela’s funeral in Qunu, South Africa in 2013. Seejarim recently presented Un balai, pourquoi pas une balai, following her 2 -month residency at SCAC Marestaing in Montesquieu-Volvestre, France (2019). Recent solo exhibitions include: Transgressing Power, at SMAC Gallery in Johannesburg, South Africa (2019); The Red Hour, Dak’Art: African Contemporary Art Biennale, Dakar, Senegal (2018); Keepers of the Common, Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town, South Africa (2018); Reasons for descending the staircase, Fried Contemporary, Pretoria, South Africa (2017). Recent group exhibitions include: Matereality, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape town, South Africa (2020); 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, Somerset House, London, UK (2019); The Ampersand Foundation Award 21 years celebration exhibition, University of Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG), Johannesburg, South Africa (2019); WomanISM, 12th OSTRALE Biennale for Contemporary Art, Goethe Institute; Ausländerrat; Historic Tobacco Factory f6, Dresden, Germany (2019); Wish You Were Here, SMAC Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa (2018); Weather Report [Travelling Exhibition], Havana, Cuba (2018).