Posted:
by QW+ staff writer
The company we keep: Dr Farieda Nazier
Artist, academic and activist Dr Farieda Nazier uses memory work to look at how present-day experiences are influenced by colonial and apartheid history. Her sculptural and video installations intend to provoke discussion and engagement. (Memory work is a process of engaging with the past through ethical and historical lenses.)
Born: 10 January 1980 in Mitchell’s Plain, Cape Town
Pronouns: She/her
Status: Single
School: Mitchell’s Plain Islamic High
University: Cape Technikon, Glasgow School of Art, and University of Johannesburg
First job: A seamstress for her family business
Home: Johannesburg and Cape Town (in no particular order)
Transport: My zippy Nissan Micra
Book on your bedside table: Systems Thinking for Social Change by David Peter Stroh
Music in your playlist: Masego’s Black Anime, Cesária Évora’s Sodade, Sevdaliza’s Human, Yaya Bey’s Pour Up.
Describe your job in no more than seven words: Creating artful opportunities that transform people via dialogue.
What keeps you awake at night? What was allowed to happen in Palestine.
Who is your biggest hero? My dad.
Remote or office? A bit of both
Career highlight? After celebrating a decade as Head of Jewellery Design and Manufacture at the University of Johannesburg, I became Curator-Director of the FADA Gallery. In my first year there, I was selected as the first African co-curator of the prestigious Haxthäuserhof Jewellery Symposium 2026 held in Germany. Alongside this, I graduated with a PhD and presented two solo exhibitions.
What is your superpower? Reading people.
What is the least known fact about you? I am an introvert.
If you could get the ear of one person, to convince them your work is important, who would it be? I believe that meaningful work speaks for itself; if I must convince someone of its importance, perhaps it isn’t the right fit for them.
If you had the power to pass a presidential decree, what would it be? Revamp the education system from basic to tertiary, rewrite the history curriculum, decolonise the social sciences, and reinstate art, design, and craft into foundational schooling – all integrated, compulsory, and enacted with immediate effect.
Your best piece of advice? Slowly, gently and carefully – allow yourself to respond and not just react.
What’s your next big thing? To establish a school for critical art and design education.
What do you do to relax? Hang out with my son.