thamsanqa majela
choreography
An award-winning South African dancer, choreographer, and teacher. Trained at Tshwane University of Technology and Brussels’ prestigious P .A.R.T.S., Majela’s original works include virtual duet MOMMY MOMMY (2020), POP (2021), Standard Bank Young Artist Award-winning work DON’T LET THE SUN SET ON YOU HERE (2022) and Muda Africa produced DITORO (2023/4) which confronts social and political themes, blending Afro-futurism, LGBTQIA+ narratives, and African mythology. His works have been staged at Kampala’s Batalo Festival, Kigali Triennial, Dar es Salaam, France, and South Africa. Majela has collaborated with the late Dada Masilo’s touring ensemble men and Giselle as well as with the Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative. His mission is to make dance accessible, socially resonant, and revered as a transformative art form. His interdisciplinary projects include the film, A LAST ONE IN COLOR.
thuthuka sibisi
concept & direction
A transdisciplinary artist, composer and theatre director whose practice interrogates the intersections of queer identity, colonial legacies and sonic resistance, creating spaces for radical reimagining through interdisciplinary performance. His performance works have been presented at major international institutions including Brooklyn Academy of Music, Sadler's Wells, The Watermill Centre, and Festival d'Aix-en-Provence. Notable collaborations include The Head & The Load with William Kentridge and Philip Miller, Broken Chord with Gregory Maqoma — for which they received an Olivier Award nomination for Best New Dance Production, and Dada Masilo's Hamlet. His composition and sound design work extends to film, including collaborations on Ixhala (2022) and Lamentations of Judas (2020). He has exhibited at Autograph ABP, Iziko South African Museum and the Apartheid Museum. Sibisi holds an MA from
Goldsmiths University and is currently a PhD candidate at the Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study (University of Johannesburg). His work bridges artistic practice and scholarly research.
NEO SERATI
COSTUME DESIGN
The founder and designer behind NAOSERATI, an avant-garde fashion brand based in Johannesburg. The brand bravely goes where none other dare and explores the margins of gender, art and sexuality while creating culture cracking, heritage shaking fashion moments. Fashion Architect cum Creative Director, Neo is a well-established and highly sought-after stylist and wardrobe designer with a long list of South African and international commercials and feature films including This Is Not A Burial Its A Resurrection for which he won Best Costume Design at the African Movie Academy Awards. Neo also won Menswear of the Year at the Fashion Industry Awards SA 2023 amongst many other accolades and achievements. Neo’s work is always an exciting highlight of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Johannesburg and South African Menswear Week, the brand has earned attention across various media and a selection of pieces can be seen in galleries and museums.
desire marea
dramaturg
Multi-disciplinary artist Desire Marea , born Buyani Duma, a graduate of the National School of the Arts and Vega School, has cemented themselves as a creative force to be reckoned with. After touring the world extensively with FAKA, a South African queer performance collective they co-founded with Fela Gucci, Desire has embarked on a solo sonic journey rooted in their own healing. Desire released their eponymous debut album in 2020 to much critical acclaim and followed it with 2023’s SAMA winning “On the Romance of Being”, a sonic departure steeped in the ritualistic and healing fundamentals of sound. They starred in the 2009 Hollywood adaptation of JM Coetzee’s Disgrace, has won awards for their work as an advertising copywriter and with FAKA, graced international music festivals, fashion shows and collaborated with iconic brands. Their most historic moment came when Italian fashion house Versace commissioned FAKA's music for their Spring Summer 2019 Menswear fashion show.
Ntshadi mofokeng
creative producer
A cultural worker who produces, curates, and writes about interdisciplinary art. Her research is interested in embodied practices, public manifestations of collective memory and how to sustain thriving cultural ecosystems. Her background in nonprofit management informed her arts administration and producing individual dance works for Gregory Maqoma (Retrace-Retract dance film and Broken Chord), interdisciplinary art events at the Institute for Creative Arts with Jay Pather (ICA Live Art Festival, restless exuberance and Live Art Network Africa Gathering) and a public music festival with Natu Camara (Harlem Meet Africa). She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Bryn Mawr College and a Master’s degree in Arts Politics from New York University. She was an inaugural STAND Foundation Leadership Initiative in 2021, International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA) Global Fellow in 2022 and Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program Curatorial Fellow 2024-2025.
