Disobedient Doilies Exhibition Johannesburg introduces a conceptually rigorous solo presentation by Shonisani Netshia at the UJ Gallery.
The exhibition draws from domestic objects found in the artist’s maternal home: crocheted doilies, tea sets, and ornamental décor and reframes them as culturally charged artefacts. Rather than passive symbols of comfort, these items become sites of resistance, revealing the tensions embedded within domestic aesthetics.
Through painting and installation, Netshia engages with the visual language of black middle-class respectability, interrogating how gendered labour and inherited cultural codes shape identity. Materials such as Isishweshwe fabric and crocheted textiles are recontextualised, bridging personal memory with broader socio-political narratives.
Presented under the SARChI Chair in South African Art and Visual Culture, led by Brenda Schmahmann, the exhibition situates artistic practice within a research-led framework.
A public programme of walkabouts, lectures, and discussions accompanies the exhibition, deepening engagement with its critical themes.
