Khanya Zibaya

Zibaya works with visual performance, experimental video work, experimental painting, sculptural, installation and photography. This also includes bodies and found objects to create contrast of realities.

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Khanya’s practice attempts to bring to light subjects often ignored, drawing on his personal relationship with themes of the discarded to create multidisciplinary works that challenge viewers to confront what is usually left unseen.

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Through performance-based visual art, he invites people to see themselves reflected in what he terms “euphemisms of life.” By manipulating materials associated with the everyday violence of human behavior, he exposes these distortions, making visible the acts of those who perpetuate them.

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Khanya has a keen interest in people reforming their relationships with the mundane. His work reflects an ongoing fascination with the fluid, often unexamined ways in which people both shape and are shaped by systems. This dynamic fuels his drive to create in innovative ways, bringing to light the persistent, often unseen patterns that linger within the familiar.

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His previous group exhibitions include, The Portrait Show, Through The Lens Collective, Johannesburg, 2023; Got Junk GoldFingers, The Fourth Gallery, Cape Town, 2023; Post Fair Blues, The Fourth Gallery, Cape Town, 2023; The Wildest Most Beautiful Ugly, Too Tired Project, Digital, 2023, Investec Cape Town Art Fair 2025, Vela Projects and Lagos Photo Biennial, Nigeria, 2025.

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Khanya matriculated from Lakehaven Secondary in Durban, South Africa in 2014. He went on to study at City Varsity in Johannesburg for an Acting in Camera Certificate in 2015. He then went to the Market Theatre Laboratory, Johannesburg, for Acting, Writing, Directing between 2018 -2021. He has been in residence at Through The LensCollective, Johannesburg, 2023 - 2024, DAC on Dorp, 2024 and The 3rd Space Residency, 2025.

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For his work, he has been recognised by the National Art Festival Student Theatre Awards for Best Actor(s) and Best Writer(s) Award, 2019; Where The Leaves Fall Magazine, London, Winner, 2023; Photo Tool 10:10, Photography Presentation Workshop, 2023 ; LagosPhoto Portfolio Review, 2023; CAP PRIZE 2024, Shortlisted; Blessing Ngobeni Art Prize,Top 8 Finalists 2024 and Void x Futures Photography 2025 shortlist.

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Zibaya’s experience in acting, directing and writing include, Vodacom World, Industrial Theatre Show, Kyalami, 2019; Le Journal, Market Theatre Laboratory,Johannesburg, 2019; Indulge Your Senses, Market Theatre Laboratory, Johannesburg, 2019; How to Crack a Coconut, Market Theatre Laboratory, Johannesburg, 2018; Babylon Beyond Borders, Market Theatre Laboratory, Johannesburg, 2018; Actors Looking for Directors, Market Theatre Laboratory, Johannesburg, 2018 ; Words Fail, Market Theatre Laboratory, Johannesburg, 2019.