Voni Baloyi

Voni Baloyi was born in Krugersdorp, Johannesburg in 1999. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Art History and Law from the University of Cape Town in 2020, and is currently studying towards her Masters in Art History. Her research deals with notions of pleasure and eroticism in imaginings of Black women, and how the law and specifically the constitution can be understood alongside pleasure as a mechanism for liberation. She is thus concerned with how the law infringes upon the right to dignity as inscribed in documents such as the Constitution of South Africa and how pleasure can be measured by the extent to which one has the full enjoyment of their human rights. Baloyi recently co-curated An Ode to the Wild Cliffs: Moments in Time (2023) with artist Jill Trappler and Siyabonana (2024) in collaboration with the Centre for Art Education at Zeitz MOCAA. She has written for multiple publications which include Artthrob, Mail & Guardian, and Daily Maverick. Baloyi’s current project entitled At Their Feet which will be realised under this fellowship is a critical examination of revolutionary mothering as a tool for political mobilisation and how collaborative care can be translated to reciprocity, responsiveness, and relativity between artists.