Malaika Temba

Malaika Temba https://malaikatemba.com Malaika Temba Mon, 14 Jul 2025 17:27:39 +0000 https://malaikatemba.com en HOME https://malaikatemba.com/HOME Wed, 24 Jul 2024 02:56:48 +0000 Malaika Temba https://malaikatemba.com/HOME      Works https://malaikatemba.com/Works Wed, 24 Jul 2024 02:55:37 +0000 Malaika Temba https://malaikatemba.com/Works Selected Works About https://malaikatemba.com/About Tue, 12 Mar 2019 16:11:35 +0000 Malaika Temba https://malaikatemba.com/About About <img width="8688" height="5792" width_o="8688" height_o="5792" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6ba223dff4221da075ffd57df9b9e74feceba65d0edf10311b83ba6d2654c96e/Portrait-2.jpeg" data-mid="245336319" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6ba223dff4221da075ffd57df9b9e74feceba65d0edf10311b83ba6d2654c96e/Portrait-2.jpeg" /> Malaika Temba (b. 1996, Washington, D.C.) draws from East African marketplaces, the histories of global trade, and feminist reimaginings of craft, to confront the intersections of care and capitalism, intimacy and exploitation through her painted tapestries. Her transnational perspective equips her with a lens attuned to globalization’s entanglements, producing works that illuminate both the connective potential and inequities embedded within systems of exchange. Temba’s practice reflects a life shaped by globalization and migration. Transforming textile (a medium historically marginalized within the hierarchy of fine art) into one that bears the weight of labor and colonial histories, her large-scale tapestries, embroideries, and installations honor the generations of women whose quiet work has sustained households, economies, and cultures for millennia. At once intimate and global, Temba’s work extends the lineage of textile traditions into new forms as both cultural inheritance and contemporary intervention. Temba is a MacDowell Fellow (2026), having also participated in residencies at Silver Art Projects (2024), MASS MoCA (2023), Art Omi (2023), and Fountainhead (2018). She was a finalist for the Norval Sovereign African Art Prize, Cape Town (2025) and recipient of the YoungArts Jorge M. Pérez Award (2021). She has presented solo exhibitions with Gaa Gallery, Cologne (2025); Mindy Solomon, Miami (2024 and 2021); and Lilia Ben Salah, Paris (2023); and her work has been shown internationally at fairs including The Armory Show, New York; 1-54, London; Art Cologne; Art Abu Dhabi; and Expo Chicago. In 2025 she debuted She Weaves White Gold at the North Carolina Museum of Art, her first institutional commission. Contact https://malaikatemba.com/Contact Wed, 24 Jul 2024 03:53:47 +0000 Malaika Temba https://malaikatemba.com/Contact Contact Studio  studio@malaikatemba.com︎ @mvtemba CV https://malaikatemba.com/CV-1 Wed, 24 Jul 2024 04:36:53 +0000 Malaika Temba https://malaikatemba.com/CV-1 CV Malaika Temba b. 1996 Lives and works in Manhattan, New York studio@malaikatemba.com  EDUCATION 2018 Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Providence, RI Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) with Honors, Textile Design 2018 Brown University, Providence, RI Selected Courses in: Africana Studies, Modern Culture & Media, Music and Multimedia Composition, French Language 2022 School for Poetic Computation, Dark Matters, taught by American Artist RESIDENCIES & FELLOWSHIPS MacDowell Fellowship, January-February 2026Textile Art Center: Artist in Residence 2024-2025Silver Art Projects: Artist in Residence - World Trade Center, New York, NY, 2024MASS MoCa: Artist in Residence, MA, 2023Art Omi: Artist in Residence, NY, 2023Bandung Residency, MoCADA and A4 Arts Alliance, NY, 2023-2024Silver Art Projects Digital Residency, New York, NY, 2021Fountainhead Residency, Miami, FL, 2020-21AWARDS Jorge M. Pérez Award, 2021RISD Textile Department Alumni Award, 2018Warren Family Social Engagement Award, 2018U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts Semi-Finalist, 2014Haimovicz Award, MD, 2014YoungArts Foundation National Winner in Visual Arts, 2014PROFESSIONAL 2020-Present Artist, Malaika Temba Studio, New York, NY 2022-2024 Part-Time Faculty and Senior Critic, Textile Department, Rhode Island School of Design, RI 2020-2021 Studio Manager, Anthony McCall Studio, NY 2019-2020 Assistant Art Director/Graphic Designer, Pyer Moss, New York, NY 2019 Production Coordinator/Designer, Pyer Moss, New York, NY 2018 Product Designer, LG& Design Associates, New York, NY Graphic Designer/Content Creator, Schomburg Shop, Schomburg Center for Research and Black Culture, New York, NY Jim Drain Studio Assistant, Providence, RI 2017 Kenya (Robinson) Studio Assistant, Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, NY 2016-2018 Studio Manager/Assistant Technician, RISD Textile Department, RI 2015-2016 Teaching Assistant, RISD Experimental and Foundation Studies, RI SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2026 Fade, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY (May 1-September 6)Forthcoming exhibition, Make Room LA, Los Angeles, CA (October) 2025 She Weaves White Gold, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC (August 2025-present) Ni Hivi Hivi Duniani, Gaa Gallery, Cologne, Germany (March 11-July 19, 2025) 2024 Solo Presentation at The Armory Show with Gaa Gallery, Javits Center, New York, NY (September 6-8) This Bridge Called Our Backs, Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami, FL (July 13-August 31) 2023 Wildfires on Mount Kilimanjaro, Galerie Lilia Ben Salah, Paris, France (March 27- May 20) Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues, SOHO House, Miami, FL (February) 2021 Not Yet Uhuru, Naomi Fassil Gallery, New York, NY (December) Sugarcane Is Sweetest At The Joint, Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami, FL (June 26- July 31) 2014 Haimovicz Award, Silver Spring Civic Center, MD GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2026 Landscape & Labor, Re Institute, Millerton, New York (April 11 - May 16) 2025 Thinking Matter, curated by Heike Dempster, EarEar, Munich, Germany (December 13, 2025 - January 1, 2026) Thread Count, The Hole, New York, NY (November 20, 2025 - January 11, 2026) Group presentation at 1-54 London with Mindy Solomon, Somerset House, United Kingdom (October 16 - 19) Salt Water Remembers, Textile Arts Center, Brooklyn, NY (September 11 - 24) Into the Woods, Make Room, Los Angeles, CA (July 19 - August 30) A Common Thread, Hera Gallery, Wakefield, RI (June 21 - July 26) 2024 Meet Me Here Tomorrow (Again), All Street Gallery curated by Heike Dempster, New York, NY (October 30 - November 17) A Billion Brilliant Points of Unity, Fridman Gallery curated by Maty Sall, New York, NY (June 21-August 10) And Sew It Seams, Toshkova Fine Art Advisory curated by Alexandra Jane, Charlotte NC (April 25 - June 20) 2023 New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA), Miami (December 5 - 9) Historic Hampton House Miami (December 4 - January 22) Art Abu Dhabi Fair, Galerie Lilia Ben Salah, Abu Dhabi, UAE (November 24 - 27) Art Cologne Fair, Gaa Gallery, Cologne, Germany (November 16 - 19, 2023) Quaquaversal, Gaa Gallery, New York, NY (July 14 - August, 2023) Family Style, Situations Gallery, New York, NY (July 12 - August 4, 2023) Hand Over Hand, Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami, FL (April 30 - June 10, 2023) Art Paris Art Fair, Galerie Lilia Ben Salah, Paris, France (April 2 - 6, 2023) Expo Chicago Art Fair, Mindy Solomon Gallery, Chicago, IL (April 14 - 17, 2023) 2022 In Moonlight We Turn Blue, STRADA, New York (October, 2022) Positions and Points of View (Partis Pris et Points de Vue), Galerie Lilia Ben Salah, Paris, France (September 8 - October 8, 2022) A Confluence of Coastal Creativity, Albertz Benda and Mindy Solomon, Los Angeles, CA (July 8 - August 5, 2022) Culture, STRADA, New York, NY (February, 2022) 2021 Operation Varsity Blues, curated by Charles Moore, Allouche Gallery, New York (June 5 - July 5, 2021) 2020-21 Loom, Longing, The Yard, New York 2018 Education as a Practice of Freedom, curated by Jasmine Wahi, Miami, FL String Theory, Woods Gerry Gallery, Providence, RI The Sweeter the Juice, Benson Gallery, Providence, RI 2017 Mutual Encounters, Gelman Gallery, RISD Museum, Providence, RI 2016 Octo, Sound Arts Performance, Providence, RI Fort Adams: Drawing Parallels, Listening for Echos, installation at Fort Adams, RI 2014 YoungArts Finalist Show, Kennedy Center, Washington D.C.; and YoungArts Building, Miami, FL 2013 The Rendering Project, George Washington University, DC ARTIST TALKS NCMA Commissioned Artists Panel, Raleigh, 2025NCMA State-wide Educator Expo, Raleigh, 2025University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 2024RISD Textiles Department, Providence, RI, Annual — 2021 - 2024 Brooklyn Museum, in conversation with co-curators Ernestine White-Mifetu and Annissa Malvoisin, Africa Fashion Exhibit, 2023Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL, 2021Queens Council on the Arts, New York, NY, 2021RISD Textiles Department, Providence, RI, 2021Fountainhead Arts Open Studios, Miami, FL, 2020GALLERY REPRESENTATION Mindy Solomon Gallery, MiamiGaa Gallery, New York, CologneLilia Ben Salah Gallery, ParisSELECT COLLECTIONS N’Namdi Collection, Miami, FLThe Bunker Artspace, collection of Beth Rudin DeWoody, Palm Beach, FLEl Espacio 23, collection of Jorge M. Pérez, Miami, FLSelig Sacks (of American Folk Art Museum), New York, NYMichael Sherman (of Hammer Museum, Baltimore Museum of Art), Private CollectionAdriana Malfitano, Private CollectionBasil Kincaid, Private CollectionSPECIAL PROJECTS 2023 Print Design, Head of State, New York Fashion Week SS 2023 Nike x Head of State x Malaika Temba Shoe Collaboration FW 2023 2022 ‘Sesame Street: 50 Years Of Sunny Days’ Documentary - Artwork Feature 2021 Rhymes with Reason, Merchandise Design and Production 2020     Graphic Design and Production, “Sue Me” by Wale Music Video Graphic Design and Screenprinting, BLM Community Print Event 2019              Merchandise Design, Jay-Z’s Made in America Festival 2018-19 Merchandise Design, Schomburg Center for Research and Black Culture BIBLIOGRAPHY 2025 “Jacquard Weavings by Malaika Temba Explore Material, Community, and Global Trade,” Kate Mothes, Colossal “10 Artists to Follow from 1-54 London,” Sydney Smith, Contemporary Lynx “1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair Returns to London,” Selvedge 2024      “6 Artists We Discovered at The Armory Show and Frieze Seoul,” Artsy Editorial 2023 Wonderland Magazine Cover, Head of State x Malaika Temba for Kaytranada Top 5 Booths at Expo Chicago 2023, Jacqueline Wainguite, New City Art 2022 “Designer Taofeek Abijako on His New Exhibit Exploring Black Vulnerability,” Christian Allaire, Vogue “Textile Designer Malaika Temba Speaks on Her Journey Into the Art World,” Voice of America, Africa 2021 “Malaika Temba: Not Yet Uhuru,” #StayHappening “Next Big Things: Malaika Temba,” Galerie “On Its 40th Anniversary, YoungArts Is Just Getting Started,” Cultured “Malaika Temba’s Textile Works Exhibit a Reverence for the Process,” Tyler Francischine, Miami New Times “June 2021 Gallery Guide: Bhakti Baxter, Juan Ledesma, Malaika Temba, and More,” Jose D. Duran, Miami New Times “Operation Varsity Blues,” exhibition catalog for exhibition Operation Varsity Blues at Allouche Gallery, Charles Moore and Alexandra M. Thomas “Malaika Temba receives YoungArts Jorge M. Pérez Award,” artdaily 2020 “‘Vote or Die’ T-shirts are back, with a twist,” Evelyn Nicole Brown, New York Times 2018 “Whitewaller Miami 2018: What to See,” Whitewall Ni Hivi Hivi Duniani (That's the Way it is in the World) https://malaikatemba.com/Ni-Hivi-Hivi-Duniani-That-s-the-Way-it-is-in-the-World Mon, 14 Jul 2025 17:27:39 +0000 Malaika Temba https://malaikatemba.com/Ni-Hivi-Hivi-Duniani-That-s-the-Way-it-is-in-the-World Ni Hivi Hivi Duniani (That's the Way it is in the World)          Woven cotton rayon37.25” x 35.5” 2025<img width="1333" height="2000" width_o="1333" height_o="2000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2a3418c604c44df1103ccd0b14e6d1762ca35cb40a492c17acba2d82ce3ca180/Ni-Hivi-Hivi-Duniani.jpg" data-mid="235796548" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2a3418c604c44df1103ccd0b14e6d1762ca35cb40a492c17acba2d82ce3ca180/Ni-Hivi-Hivi-Duniani.jpg" /> Don't Bother Me https://malaikatemba.com/Don-t-Bother-Me Mon, 07 Oct 2024 19:47:51 +0000 Malaika Temba https://malaikatemba.com/Don-t-Bother-Me Don’t Bother Me          Woven cotton rayon and acrylic paint68” x 82" 2024<img width="850" height="1100" width_o="850" height_o="1100" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d1db610d0b0367601145ffd5f330a8e48b476433aaedc55344c66216dc5811fc/Don-t-Bother-Me--2024-Jacquard-woven-fabric--acrylic-paint--68-x-82-in.png" data-mid="219340346" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/850/i/d1db610d0b0367601145ffd5f330a8e48b476433aaedc55344c66216dc5811fc/Don-t-Bother-Me--2024-Jacquard-woven-fabric--acrylic-paint--68-x-82-in.png" /> Marketi https://malaikatemba.com/Marketi Thu, 26 Sep 2024 17:08:59 +0000 Malaika Temba https://malaikatemba.com/Marketi Marketi          Woven cotton rayon and acrylic paint92.5” x 66" 2023-2024 <img width="1517" height="1160" width_o="1517" height_o="1160" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/72b86d71cfea630fed7e738c2a53b2841e53acc3c4edcf4c4f343c3bcd6983cd/Marketi.jpeg" data-mid="218748410" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/72b86d71cfea630fed7e738c2a53b2841e53acc3c4edcf4c4f343c3bcd6983cd/Marketi.jpeg" /> Preparing Dinner https://malaikatemba.com/Preparing-Dinner Mon, 14 Jul 2025 17:25:14 +0000 Malaika Temba https://malaikatemba.com/Preparing-Dinner Preparing Dinner          Woven cotton rayon and acrylic paint61” x 52" 2025<img width="1333" height="2000" width_o="1333" height_o="2000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1fb0b962e59260436f9945a6f643523d747e8c693a48c16b2bc2bfe303ba8136/GAA-5-1.jpg" data-mid="235796859" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1fb0b962e59260436f9945a6f643523d747e8c693a48c16b2bc2bfe303ba8136/GAA-5-1.jpg" /> Sweet Disposition https://malaikatemba.com/Sweet-Disposition Wed, 13 Mar 2024 19:18:18 +0000 Malaika Temba https://malaikatemba.com/Sweet-Disposition Sweet Disposition          Woven cotton rayon and acrylic paint 72" x 48" 2023 <img width="4498" height="3000" width_o="4498" height_o="3000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/899b9cc8fde11083fff26724fbb05b1e37d0f4ead75c1ac52658b4c274c03508/2.-Malaika-Temba_Sweet-Disposition--2023_Tissage-Jacquard-peint_122x183cm_repro-Romain-Darnaud_HD.jpeg" data-mid="206721851" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/899b9cc8fde11083fff26724fbb05b1e37d0f4ead75c1ac52658b4c274c03508/2.-Malaika-Temba_Sweet-Disposition--2023_Tissage-Jacquard-peint_122x183cm_repro-Romain-Darnaud_HD.jpeg" />