nisha merit
von carnap
~work of merit
about
DE
She previously held positions at SWAG magazine (Associate Editor, 2021–22) and A4 Arts Foundation, Cape Town (Production & Artist Residency, 2018–2021). With over ten years of independent curatorial practice, she has collaborated with institutions such as Galerie im Körnerpark, Market Theatre Johannesburg, PhotoFest Lagos, Moussem Brussels, Johannesburg Art Gallery, SAVVY Contemporary Berlin, Theater Ballhaus Naunynstrasse Berlin and Political Beauty. She has worked with artists including Roland Gunst (BE), Slindile Mthembu (SA), Igshaan Adams (SA), Kevin Beasley (USA), Gian Maria Tosatti (IT), Theresa Schubert (DE), MADEYOULOOK (SA), Natalie Paneng (SA), Silvia Noronha (BR) and others.
She frequently publishes artist interviews and has written for academic publication and art magazines (Art Africa Mag, SWAG, Lost Libraries, Burnt Archives ), as well as exhibition concepts. Holding a B.A. in Cultural Studies (FH Potsdam, Germany) and an M.A. in Art History (Wits University, South Africa), Nisha’s practice is rooted in an expanded curatorial approach, emphasizing process and interdisciplinary collaborations through exhibition-making, curatorial research, and writing.
In 2021, she founded Merit Art Collective, an trans- and interdisciplinary organisation for artistic and creative engagements, research, and exchange between creatives, modes and places.
curatorial
practice
My independent curatorial work acts as an interlocutor between art and its audiences, using artists and institutions as points of departure for inquiry. Interdisciplinary collaborations are integral to my extended curatorial practice. The focus is process, collaboration and psychology of spaces.
Through curatorial research I explore systems and their interactions through the lens of contamination, examining the movement between archives and public spaces. This approach fosters a dynamic interplay between academic frameworks and artistic practices. The focus is speculation, the interstitial and the para- as methodology.
Writing and producing are fundamental aspects of my practice. These activities encompass commissioned work, artist interviews, concept development, and proposal writing, as well as the production of independent projects and institutional collaborations. The focus is a creating curiosity into existence, deep listening, exchange.
Systems design and development play a pivotal role in interdisciplinary work, particularly in the establishment of the Merit Art Collective - an NPO and international network of creatives dedicated to exchange and collaborative projects. The focus is to establish shared tools to navigate independent practices and institutional systems.
acadmeic
Johannesburg, (SA). 2017
B.A. Curatorial Work and Arts Management at the
University of Applied Science Potsdam, (GER). 2014
community
Continued Conversations
Oracle Photo - International Photo Curators
Institut für angewandte Realitätsveränderung - iar
contact
ig @meritsworld
in nishamerit