Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany
Photographer Jasper Kettner
In 2021 Olivia Botha received the DAAD Artist-in-Berlin Fellowship
Olivia Botha (b. 1991, Bloemfontein, South Africa) is a multidisciplinary artist, working in various mediums such as painting, installation, video, printmaking, poetry and drawing. Her interests lie in unearthing how personal narratives, concepts of identity, and how the physical as well as imagined environments affect the present. Language and how we employ it is also fundamental in her practice.
In 2017 she graduated with a Bachelor in Fine Art from Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town. In 2018 she received the Cassirer Welz Award in Johannesburg which accumulated to a solo show at SMAC Gallery. She then received the 2020 Visas pour la Création award from the Institut Français and completed her residency in Montesquieu-Volvestre with a solo exhibition. Afterwards, she moved to Berlin to attend her year-long fellowship at the DAAD Artist-in-Berlin programme (2021 – 2022). In 2024 Botha moved to Cologne and from 2025 she has a studio at the Atelierhaus - Bonner Kunsterverein in Bonn.
Her work has shown internationally at Palais de Tokyo, Paris, the Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova, Ljubljana; The Africa Center; Google Arts & Culture New York; Accademia Tadini, Lovere; and at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe. Locally, her work has been part of notable exhibitions at the Klein Karoo NasionaleKunstefees; David Krut Projects, Latitudes Art Fair, RMB Turbine Art Fair, and the Absa Art Gallery.
Her solo exhibitions include A Collection of Dreams, 2024 at 99 Loop Gallery, Cape Town; Wilting Flowers, Berlin 2022; Seeing Blue, Montesquieu-Volvestre 2021, Caught at David Krut Projects, Johannesburg 2021; Things Left Unsaid, at SMAC Gallery, Johannesburg 2019; and Insig: Insight / Uitsig: Outsight at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Bulawayo 2018.
In 2021 her poem When words fail was published in Yesterdays and Imagining Realities, An Anthology of South African Poetry under the French Institute of South Africa and impepho press publishing house.
CV
Solo Exhibitions
2025 - Something for Tomorrow, Bode Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2024 - A Collection of Dreams, 99 Loop Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2023 - Selected Wilting Flowers, 99 Loop Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2023 - Wilting Flowers, David Krut Projects New York, New York, USA (online)
2022 - Wilting Flowers, Berlin, Germany
2021 - Seeing Blue, SCAC Marestaing, Montesquieu-Volvestre, France
2021 - Caught, David Krut Projects, Johannesburg, South Africa
2019 - Things left unsaid, SMAC Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2018 - Insig: Insight / Uitsig: Outsight, National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Solo Exhibitions
2025 - Upcoming: Ever changing dance, with Michael Bräuer, 99 Loop Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024 - Common Ground, HEAT Art Festival, 99 Loop Gallery, Cape Town South Africa
2024 - Investec Cape Town Art Fair, 99 Loop Gallery Booth, Cape Town, South Africa
2023 - Bubble, exhibition & auction, Woordfees, Stellenbosch, South Africa
2023 - I Never Promised You A Rose Garden, Cavalli Estate, Cape Wine lands, South Africa
2023 - Elemental, 99 Loop Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2022 - SEED II Auction, Villa Arcadia, Johannesburg, South Africa
2022 - Detour, A Journey Through Creative Catalysts, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
2022 - Sempiternal Summer, Lizamore & Associates, Johannesburg, South Africa
2022 - Alone of Its Kind, David Krut Projects, Johannesburg, South Africa
2021 - Amplifica: A Medley of Moods in Miniature, Klein Karoo National Arts Festival, Oudtshoorn, South Africa
2021 - A Short Philosophy on Medium, AVA Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2021 - Bag Factory 30 Years: So Far, The Future, FADA Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2020 - Another Kind of Blue, Klein Karoo National Arts Festival, Oudtshoorn, South Africa
2020 - RMB Turbine Art Fair, Bag Factory Booth, Johannesburg, South Africa
2020 - Latitudes Art Fair, Bag Factory Booth, Johannesburg, South Africa
2020 - Viral Self-Portraits, Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova, Ljubljana. Slovenia
2020 - Covert Bioscope, The Bag Factory Artists’ Studios, Johannesburg, South Africa
2019 - Tête-a-tête, Absa Gallery, South Africa
2019 - The Colour Blue, David Krut Projects, Johannesburg, South Africa
2019 - Know This Place? KZNSA, Durban, South Africa
2019 - Open studios, National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
2019 - I had a dream, The Africa Center New York and Google Arts & Culture, USA
2019 - Beyond Short Format, Video Art Awards, Labia Theater, SA and Accademia Tadini, Italy
2018 - AtWork, National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe
2018 - The E-qualities of Women, National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe
2016 - Michaelis Graduate Exhibition, Cape Town, South Africa
2016 - The Chemistry Behind Creativity, Sasol New Signatures Competition, Pretoria Art Museum, South Africa
2014 - Where the Wild Things Are, Michaelis Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Accolades
2021 - 2022 DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Fellow
2020 - Visas For Creation, Institut Français
2018 - Cassirer Welz Award
2018 - Moleskine Foundation Scholarship
2016 - Sasol New Signatures Finalist
2016 - Dean’s Merits List
Residencies and Academic record
2025 - Atelierhaus Bonner Kunstverein
2021-22 - DAAD Artist-in-Berlin Fellowship, Berlin, Germany
2021 - SCAC Marestaing, Montesquieu-Volvestre, France
2018-19 - Bag Factory Artists’ Studios, Johannesburg, South Africa
2018 - National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
2016 - Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art, Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
Publications
Botha, O. 2020. ”When words fail”, in Yesterdays and Imagining Realities, An Anthology of South African Poetry. The French Institute of South Africa and impepho press. Publication date: February 2021
Botha, O. 2019. “Having Two Tongues. One Swallowed”, in Muchemwa, F.V. (ed) Curating Johannesburg: rest.less, under siege/in transition. Johannesburg, South Africa: Bag Factory Artist Studio. Publication date: November 2019
Selected Media
2022 - David Krut Projects https://davidkrutprojects.com/63359/berlin-studio-visit-with-olivia-botha
2021 - Radio Galaxie, France https://radiogalaxie31.com/interviews-culturels/
2020 - Harare Conversations featuring Olivia Botha https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUfwZ29THak&t=3472s
2019 - Gemma hart, Olivia Botha // Things Left Unsaid as an exploration of intergeneration matriarchal legacy, Bubblegum Club https://bubblegumclub.co.za/art-and-culture/olivia-botha- things-left-unsaid-as-an- exploration-of-intergeneration-matriarchal-legacy/
2019 - Joburg TV interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j87kLE630M&feature
2018 - Cassirer Welz Award Winner Announcement https://citizen.co.za/lifestyle/your-life-entertainment-your-life/2043005/artist-olivia-botha-wins-2019-cassirer-welz-award/
2018 - Good Morning Zimbabwe, ZBC, Live interview with news anchor McDonald Gurura and Executive Director of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Doreen Sibanda)