Description
BIOGRAPHY OF Mandisa Buthelezi
Mandisa Buthelezi is a photographer and filmmaker who was raised in Umlazi a township situated in Durban.
With a vast portfolio that communicates the rural voice, and an appreciation and respect for the culture that has informed her perspective, she is keen on providing film and photographic content that is country-life cantered and unpack the notions of identity, culture and spirituality.
In 2016 Mandisa travelled to France as she was selected to take part in the Studio Vortex residency by Magnum Photographer, Antoine D’agata. The body of work she produced there has since been exhibited at the Pingyao International Photography Festival in 2016 in a group exhibition titled AMANDLA! A Celebration of South African Women Photographers and at Semaphore Gallery in Switzerland under the group exhibition titled ANOMALIES and exhibited her series titles KWANTU at the Essence Festival, Durban 2017.
She made runner up for Open Society Foundations Social Justice through The Lens Competition in June 2016. She recently completed a yearlong Market Photo Workshop Incubator Programme, working on a body of work focusing on African spirituality & personal identity titled Egecekeni.
In 2018 she successfully ran a project funded by the National Arts Council, Izwi Lami, which used the medium of photography to engage with physically challenged children (9-14 years) of Harding Special School. This was a 7-month long project that resulted in an online exhibition of the photographs made by the 14 participants.
She has since been involved in the filmmaking space in the Art Department space and as a Production Manager.Her cultural and spiritual identity continue to be the core of her work with personal upbringing and personal experiences informing and shaping her view of what it means to be an African woman in present day Africa and in a larger global society.
