Ernestine White-Mifetu
Ernestine White-Mifetu Ernestine White-Mifetu

Ernestine White-Mifetu

b. Cape Town, 1976. Lives in Brooklyn, New York 

An innovative print-maker, Ernestine White-Mifetu’s work investigates notions of place, identity and belonging in the context of South Africa’s political and social history. Ernestine White-Mifetu is the Sills Foundation Curator of African Art at the Brooklyn Museum in New York.

Ernestine White-Mifetu has experience within the arts and culture sector that spans a period of 18 years.

Education

2020: Finance for Non-Financial Managers, GIBS, University of Cape Town, Cape Town.
2013: Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Specialising in Curatorship, Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, Cape Town.
2007: Project Management Certificate, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town.
2004: Master of Fine Art, Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, Cape Town. 
2001: Master Printer Certificate, Tamarind Institute, New Mexico.
2000: Professional Printer Program, Tamarind Institute, New Mexico.
1999: Bachelors in Fine Art, School of Art and Design, SUNY Purchase College, New York.

Exhibitions

2011: Impressions from South Africa, 1965 to Now, Museum of Modern Art, New York.
2009: Innovative Women, Constitutional Hill, Johannesburg.
2009: ABSA Atelier Award (Top 100 selection), Johannesburg.
2008: Print ’08: Myth, Memory and the Archive, Bell Roberts Contemporary Art Gallery, Cape Town.
2008: Scratching the Surface, AVA, Cape Town.
2007: africa south, AVA Gallery, Cape Town. 
2007: ReCenter, Lookout Hill, Khayelitsha, Cape Town.
2007: Glamouraid, Kizo Art Gallery, Kwa-Zulu Natal.
2007: Amarula Room, Sandton City, Johannesburg.
2007: Women for Children, The Museum Room, Parliament of South Africa, Cape Town.
2006: Cape Town: Contemporary Prints, Polvo, Chicago.
2006: Women for Children, Art for Humanity, Tatham Gallery, Pietermaritzburg and Cape Town.
2006: Print 2006, Bell Roberts Gallery, Cape Town and Art on Paper, Johannesburg.
2005: Krisp, Art B Gallery, Bellville, Cape Town.
2005: Artists thinking in beads, Coeo Art Collaborative, Cape Town.
2005: Botaki Exhibition 3, Old Mutual Asset Managers, Cape Town.
2005: Botaki Exhibition 2, Old Mutual asset Managers, Cape Town.
2004: Woolworths, Canal Walk, Cape Town.
2004: Art Cool-LG Electronics, Roodebloom Wine Launch, Johannesburg
2003: Surface=Print, AVA, Cape Town.
2003: Picnic, Bell Roberts Gallery, Cape Town. 
2003: Voicing the Abstract, Community Arts Project, Cape Town.
2002: Tamarind impressions, Allan Greene Gallery, New Mexico.

Work experience

2022-Present: Sills Foundation Curator of African Art at the Brooklyn Museum, New York.
2019-2020: Director, William Humphrey's Gallery, Kimberley.
2016-2019: Curator of Visual Arts Programme, National Arts Festival, Makhanda, Port Elizabeth.
2014: Guest Curator of Contemporary Art, Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town. 
2011: South African Regional Coordinator, Freedom to Create, Cape Town.
2007- 2011: Senior Projects Coordinator: Parliamentary Millennium Programme, Parliament of the Republic of South Africa.
2003- 2006: Exhibitions Coordinator-Curator: Parliamentary Millennium Project, Parliament of the Republic of South Africa.
2005: Part-time Lecturer: Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town.
2004: Collections Manager, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town.
2002-2003: Tours-Coordinator: Parliamentary Millennium Project, Parliament of the Republic of South Africa.
2003: Press Assistant: Impact International Print Conference, Cape Town.
2002: Visual Arts Coordinator/Performer: Clanwilliam: A story is like the wind, University of Cape Town
2000-2001: Tamarind Master Printer: Tamarind Institute, New Mexico.
1999- 2000: Tamarind Professional Printer Training Program, New Mexico.
1999: Teaching Assistant: Introduction to Woodcut and Lithography, SUNY Purchase College, New York.
1998-99 Internship: The Printmaking Workshop, Manhattan, New York.

Exhibitions curated

2023: African Fashion, Brooklyn Museum, New York, United States. (Co-curated with Annissa Malvoisin).
2019: Trading Places, 14th Curitiba Biennale, Brazil.
2018: Visual Arts Programme, National Arts Festival, Makhanda
2018: El Anatsui – Meyina, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town.
2017: The Art of Disruptions, Visual Arts Programme for National Arts Festival, Makhanda.
2017: Lionel Davis- Gathering Strands, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town.
2017: Beth Diane Armstrong: in perpetuum, Standard Bank Young Artist for 2017, Iziko
South African National Gallery, Cape Town.
2016: Women's Work: Crafting Stories, Subverting Narratives, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town, SA
2016: The Art of Disruptions, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town. SA
2015: History will Break your Heart: Kemang Wa Lehulere. Standard Bank Young Artist
for 2015, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town. 
2015: Studio: Celebrating the Lives and Works of South African artists, Iziko South
African National Gallery, Cape Town.
2014: Time and Again: Retrospective Exhibition by Penny Siopis, Iziko South African
National Gallery, Cape Town. 
2014: Brave New World: 20 Years of Democracy, Iziko South African National Gallery,
Cape Town. 
2014: Altered Perspectives: Featured artist Lyndi Sales, Cape Town Artfair, V&A
Waterfront, Cape Town. 
2013: Between Words and Images, Iziko Rust En Vreugd House Museum, Cape Town.
2007: Women for Children, Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, Cape Town. 
2006: Perspectives and the Mapping of Africa, Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, Cape Town. 
2006: Voices of Women, Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town.
2004: 10 Years of a Democratic Parliament, Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, Cape Town. SA

Collections

Museum of Modern Art, New York
The Printmaking Workshop, Manhattan, New York
Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town
Centre for African Studies, University of Cape Town
Irma Stern Museum, University of Cape Town

Panels

2024: Virtual Convening on African Art in American Museums, Neuberger Museum of Art at Purchase College, SUNY (Panel III, Reframing African Art).

Publications

2005: Mario Pissarra, Botaki: Exhibition 3, Conversations with Donovan Ward, Old Mutual Asset Managers, Cape Town
2005: Mario Pissarra, Botaki: Exhibition 2, Conversations with Sophie Peters, OMAM, Cape Town (exhibition catalogue)
2005: Ernestine White, from Then and Now, Chimurenga vol. 7, July.
2004: Sophie Perryer (ed.) 10 years, 100 Artists: Art in a Democratic South Africa, Bell Roberts Publishing, Cape Town
2003: Picnic (catalogue, exhibition curated by Andrew Lamprecht)
2001: Technical Talk. Tamarind Institute Art on Paper. NY (Jan- Feb; Mar– Apr; and Nov- Dec)
2001: Magazine of the Arts (MOA), Purchase College, NY. American Red Cross, Centennial celebration, NY

Commissions

2006: Artists for Humanity [billboard, Langa, Cape Town]; Coeo Art Collective
2005: Bell Roberts Gallery [print] 2004: LG Electronics; and Coeo art Collective
2003: KWV

Grants and scholarships

2002 and 2004: Katrine Harries Memorial Bursary and McIver Scholarship, Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town
2002: National Research Foundation Grant. University of Cape Town

Links

Arts community up in arms over alleged 'witch hunt' of WHAG director Ernestine White-Mifetu

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