Nkhensani Mkhari
Nkensani Mkhari (b. 1994) is a contemporary curator and postdisciplinary artist. His broad practice spans photography, painting, performance art, sound design, and new media. Mkhari’s artworks function as multimodal material-semiotic metaphors.
Nkhensani Mkhari is a Johannesburg-based multidisciplinary artist and curator. His broad practice spans photography, painting, performance art, sound design, and new media. His artworks function as multimodal material-semiotic metaphors.
His keen interest in the intersections between art and technology led him to his first residency with Fak’ugesi digital innovation festival in 2018 curated by Dr. Tegan Bristow, with Brian House and Marc Lee as their mentors. The residency culminated in a multimedia installation exploring themes of their ongoing body of work titled image of transgression exploring human spatial evolution into cyberspace and the cultural repercussions of that change.
In 2019 his VR work titled Coronation of a Holographic Rainbowwas shortlisted for the ZKM and Solitude Web Residency call no. 6, curated by Mary Maggic. The project explored how indigenous ritual ceremonies may be archived using virtual and augmented reality.
In January 2020 he had hisr first pop-up exhibition Uhm Yeahin Paris/France with Le Ge’enied’ Alex. In September he opened his first exhibition in Johannesburg titled Porous Borders.
Nkhensani is a recipient of the Fak’ugesi digital curation residency, the first of its kind in Africa. The exhibition has been on the Fak’ugesi platform since October 2020. They continue to expand in their praxis, synthesizing mediums to evoke new passages of materiality in expand public consciousness.
About Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival
Fak’ugesi, which means “Switch it on” or “add power” in urban Zulu, is focused on culture, technology and innovation in Africa. It is an opportunity for young adults, with or without formal education, to learn or engage with tomorrow’s technology
In 2024, David came across Nkhensani Mkhari's work being shown at the Cape Town Art Fair by Church Gallery. Mkhari's intimate works reminded David of the work of Agnes Martin, which, after an introduction to the artist, prompted David to invite Mkhari to visit our workshop at Arts on Main. In December 2024, Mkhari took up that offer and came in work on watercolour monotypes, working alongside printer's Roxy Kaczmarek and Kim-Lee Loggenberg-Tim. He continued his collaboration in 2025, resulting in a body of work that was shown at 151 in March of 2025, his first exhibition with David Krut Projects.
