In her work, South African Thania Petersen examines the consequences of the colonisation of large parts of Africa and Asia, our urge to keep buying and Sufi legends and myths. Her work is influenced by Indian Ocean history and migrations and the shared experiences and cultures that shaped her Islamic community in South Africa. With costumes, embroideries, textile collages and multimedia performances, she looks with an African eye at what we were and what we are now.

Especially for Afrovibes Festival, she is creating a video performance through which she shows history previously hidden and heritage we have lost. In doing so, she explores what the world can look like when we use our cultural heritage for our future.

About the creator
Thania Petersen is a designer/visual artist based in South Africa. She studied at Central Saint Martin’s College of Art in London, with Sylvestor Mubayi in Zimbabwe and later with Korean ceramicist Hwang Yea Sook. Her work has been exhibited at international exhibitions such as the Ames Yavuz in Sydney, the SMAC Gallery in Cape Town and the Ford Foundation New York. Her work is also included in collections of Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art in Washington D.C, the Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town and the National Museum of World Cultures in Rotterdam, among others. And you could admire Petersen’s work in public such as on billboards on Sunset Boulevard, buses in Brazil and train stations in Japan.