Anawana Haloba has made her mark as an important voice in contemporary art with her striking and thought-provoking works, in which she investigates globalisation, migration and representation through poetic and suggestive stories.
She often employs fictitious characters who speculate around possible pasts and futures, and finds connections in these speculations to the ideas of a diverse range of philosophers and authors, for example Franz Fanon and Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson. Questions of how we accumulate knowledge about ourselves and the world around us, and how our available material resources are closely tied to this understanding are central themes in her artistic practice. Haloba uses moving images, objects, and sound that work together to create immersive installations or performance-based works.
Sello Majara Bio
Anawana Haloba (b. 1978, Livingstone, Zambia) lives and works in Oslo and Livingstone. She is currently a senior research fellow at Bergen National Academy of the Arts, KMD, University of Bergen. Her research project investigates the role played by women in the decolonialisation of Africa, as well as power and powerlessness, both in post-colonial and non-colonial societies like Norway.
Haloba has exhibited in numerous prestigious locations, and has enjoyed significant international success in her career, including exhibits at the Venice Biennale, Bolzano, the Sharajah Biennial, and Manifesta. She was educated at the Evelyn Hone College of applied Arts in Lusaka, and obtained a BFA at the National Academy of Arts, Oslo in 2006, as well as an MFA at Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam.
Photo: Sello Majara