Nondumiso Hlwele

Nondumiso Hlwele was born in 1974 in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. She is an artist and activist who was a member of the Aids and Society Research Unit (ASRU). ASRU is best known for developing body maps that documented the lives of 12 HIV-positive women who were among the first South Africans to receive antiretroviral treatment through the Medécins sans Frontières (MSF) Khayelitsha clinic. She works as an administrator for the Centre for Social Science Research (CSSR) and the Mzantsi Wakho Project. Hlwele was one of three women whose figures and life stories are featured in a mosaic on the Medical School’s library wall in Cape Town.

Hlwele created body maps, life-sized images that traced the contours of the painter’s body to articulate the impact of HIV/AIDS. South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America have hosted exhibitions of the body maps. The artworks were also displayed at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCAT). Furthermore, Hlwele was invited to Vancouver in 2010 to participate in the INBODY: MOA Global Dialogue International Symposium at the Museum of Anthropology. The Winter Olympic Games in 2010 presented an excellent opportunity to explore expectations and definitions of the body. In 2015, she was asked to present at the conference Women with HIV/AIDS in South Africa: Medicine, Art, and Activism at Birkbeck, University of London, and to participate in the exhibition Positive Living: Art and AIDS in South Africa at the Peltz Gallery, University of London.

Sources:

https://www.unlimitedglobalalchemy.com/nondumiso-hlwele [Accessed 30 August 2024]

https://www.mzantsiwakho.org.za/people/nondumiso [Accessed 30 August 2024]

https://palaisdetokyo.com/en/personne/bambanani-womens-group/ [Accessed 30 August 2024]