Esther Mahlangu. B. in Middleburg, South Africa, 1935, where she lives and works.
Although firmly rooted in her traditional Ndebele culture, she is regarded as a visionary and a disruptor, being the first person to reinvent traditional Ndebele design through contemporary media. Best known for her large-scale painted canvases, her work also includes wall painting, ceramic vases, sneakers, and painted car doors, bicycles, motorcycles, and skateboards.
This led to high-profile global collaborations with names such as Rolls-Royce, BMW, Fiat, South African Airways, British Airways, John Legend, Belvedere Vodka, The Smithsonian Museum, Freshpak Rooibos, and many others.
Mahlangu first gained international attention in 1989 with a French art exhibition titled Magiciens de la Terre.
In 2018, she received two honorary doctorates; in 2019, she was named Officer of Arts and Letters, the highest French distinction for contributions to the arts. That same year, the Department of Arts and Culture published a book in her honour, and she received a United Nations award in Johannesburg.
See Esther Mahlangu’s selected exhibitions.
