Gabisile Nkosi

Gabisile Nkosi (4 February 1974 – 27 May 2008) was a South African artist and printmaker, community organiser and women's rights activist.

Early life and education Nkosi was born in 1974 in Umlazi, Durban, South Africa, as the fifth of seven children. She was a devout Christian.

She attended Ogwini High School in Umlazi, She was finally accepted and enrolled to study Fine Art at the university, where she was the only black student in her class. She later worked at Caversham Press as their programme manager and local community co-ordinator.

Career Nkosi's work explored her identity as a black South African women, daughter and mother. She was also interested in how art could be used as therapy and healing, especially for women who had been abused through domestic violence, which was sponsored by Artists for Human Rights. Her piece was displayed at the main entrance and exit to Umlazi. The image was controversial as it challenged the cultural beliefs that it was immoral for young women to education elder men whilst also broaching the taboo around HIV/AIDs.

In 2003, Nkosi was artist in residence at the McColl Center, Charlotte, North Carolina, who stated that "her expressive and haunting prints and paintings form a powerful narrative about apartheid and domestic life and community in her native South Africa that resonate across physical and cultural borders."

In 2007, Nkosi was selected to run a creativity workshop at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in Johannesburg.

Posthumous exhibitions In 2017, Nkosi's 2006 linocut Dadewethu (My sister) was displayed at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art as part of the 10th Berlin Biennale in Germany. The print was a letter addressed to her sister where Nkosi commended her for her courage in disclosing her HIV status.

A memorial exhibition of Nkosi's work called "Gabisile Nkosi Remembered (1974-2008)" was held at the African Art Centre in 2013.

In 2023, the MTN South Africa Foundation's Art Collection featured Nkosi in their Women + Art video collaboration with Melanie Tait.

Nkosi's works are held in collections of galleries including the Durban Art Gallery and the MoMA. Her work has also been privately collected by celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey and Maya Angelou.